Former Scotland Yard Detective Peter Bleksley has heaped praise on GB News' Charlie Peters, as he hit out at "weak" Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's grooming gangs U-turn.

Following the Labour leader's decision to hold a national inquiry, Bleksley claimed the U-turn was only made due to Starmer being "backed into a corner".

During his flight to Canada for the annual G7 Summit, Starmer told reporters that a statutory national inquiry is the "right thing to do", despite previously arguing one was "not needed".

Starmer also accused those calling for an inquiry of "jumping on the bandwagon" of the "far-right".

Peter Bleksley hit out at 'weak' Keir Starmer as he praised GB News's Charlie Peters for being at the forefront of the grooming gangs scandal

Discussing the decision on GB News, Bleksley fumed: "I think it's quite staggering, because we've gone from language used by Starmer and Lucy Powell of a right-wing bandwagon and dog whistle politics to now a full judge-led statutory inquiry, with all the powers that that confers.

"And furthermore to that, yesterday the Home Office announced that the National Crime Agency, under their Operation Stove Wood, will continue to investigate child rape gangs, including historical allegations, exactly the sort of crimes that this inquiry will cover."

Highlighting that grooming gangs are not just a "historic problem" but an ongoing "current problem" in Britain, Bleksley added: "The Child Sexual Exploitation Task Force, which is largely staffed by police officers under its Operation Hydrant, will continue to do the same.

"So whilst this inquiry will probably look into the authorities, the kind of setups that allowed all of this offending to carry on, it needs to be remembered, there's a lot of offending that still needs investigating."

Sir Keir Starmer has ordered a full-scale national inquiry into the rape gangs scandalPA

Praising GB News' National Reporter Charlie Peters for being at the forefront of investigations into grooming gangs, Bleksley declared the People's Channel "deserves credit" for shedding light on the sheer scale of the scandal.

Asked by GB News Breakfast host Stephen Dixon why the Prime Minister has suddenly U-turned on an inquiry, Bleksley stated: "I think he's been forced into a corner.

"The language that the Prime Minister and others from the Government have used has been utterly shameful, deeply shameful.

"And it is huge credit to people like Charlie Peters of GB News, who with the backing of the channel, has been utterly relentless in pursuing this matter."

Highlighting other campaigners who have fought for an inquiry to be held, Bleksley continued: "Also people like Maggie Oliver, a former Greater Manchester Police detective who left her job because she was so appalled at the obfuscation and the lack of action and the lies that people were perpetuating.

Bleksley told GB News that the Prime Minister has been 'backed into a corner' over the inquiry

"And people like Maggie have represented victims' concerns for years, and they deserve, along with others, of course, huge credit for getting this national disgrace to the forefront of the agenda."

Hitting out at Keir Starmer and his "weakness" in U-turning on the scandal, Bleksley concluded: "It's also a huge credit for finally getting this weak Prime Minister, who gets blown around by the wind to finally have the spine to say, this is a national scandal, we're going to have a statutory public inquiry.

"If he had any shred of common decency, then I'm sure he would apologise, but I'm not going to be holding my breath.

"What we're talking about here is child rape gangs. Children who have been repeatedly raped on an industrial scale by gangs of men who are so perverse, and whose actions were so perverted that they should be locked away forever."