In Parliament it can be hard to get political chicanery past the other 649 MPs, all experts in the art themselves. On social media, where the last election was played out, it’s much easier.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch sought to argue the scale of the child grooming scandal demands further investigation. But her method is cynical, seemingly seeking a prized retweet from Troll-in-Chief Elon Musk by proposing a wrecking amendment to call for a national inquiry on a bill which ministers argue will help protect vulnerable children.

With an eye on local election losses to Reform UK and grabbing the attention of Musk – maybe he’ll bung her a few quid too – Badenoch’s political opportunism was on full show on Wednesday. She used all six of her questions to Starmer at PMQs to discuss the grooming scandal, demanding a nationwide inquiry to “join the dots” on all the abuse.

The Government is determined to bat away calls for another inquiry, arguing it would take years and years and the focus now should be action.

“She met her recently acquired view that it’s a scandal having spent a lot of time on social media over Christmas – not........

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