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Lord Michael Gove has told Sky News that a national inquiry could see some "tough questions" asked of the Home Office about it culture and its interactions with the police.

But those questions will also be posed to two departments he led - the Department for Local Government and the Department of Education.

The veteran cabinet minister welcomes the inquiry and the accompanying "tough question", saying: "I think it's right that there should be, because the nature and scale of what the victims have endured means that there's an obligation on all of us who've been in any form of elected office to be honest and unsparing in looking at what went on."

He said he "certainly didn't have the knowledge at my command that we now do about the widespread nature of this activity".

'Not nearly enough' progress made

Sophy Ridge put to Lord Gove that despite commissioning a report on what was happening to girls in care, and not seeking to block the publication of Andrew Norkfolk's story, he still failed to make change.

He replied: "Yes, so it is undoubtedly the case that more should have been done."

He admitted that it "absolutely" weights on him, and that "not nearly enough" progress was made.

"With the benefit of hindsight, I do wish that I had been more vehement in trying to persuade people to take appropriate action," he said.

The Department for Education and Rotherham Council were approached for comment earlier this week on the claims first made by Dominic Cummings, revealed by Sky News.

Lord Michael Gove has confirmed the report from Sky News this week that Whitehall officials tried to convince him to go to court to cover up the grooming scandal in 2011.

The allegations of a cover-up were first made to Sky News by former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings in an interview with Sky News, and the claims were substantiated by other sources as well. Mr Cummings was working for Lord Gove, who was then education secretary.

Speaking to Sky's Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, Lord Gove explained that in 2011, he learned that the late Times journalist Andrew Norfolk, who he described as "a heroic reporter who did more than anyone to initially uncover this scandal", was seeking to publish details of a report from Rotherham Council about the abuse and grooming of young girls.

He said: "Rotherham Council wanted to stop that happening. They wanted to go to court to prevent him publishing some details, and we in the Department for Education were asked by the council, 'would we join in, would we be a party to that court action to stop it'.

"And I had to look at the case, advised by Dominic [Cummings] and by others, and there were some within the department, some officials who said, 'be cautious, don't allow this to be published, there may be risks for relatives of the victim concerned."

'We believe in transparency'

Rotherham Council also argued that publication may pose "risks" to the process of "improving in the way in which it handles" grooming cases, he continued.

The judicial review wanted by officials would have asked a judge to decide about the lawfulness of The Times' publication plans and the consequences that would flow from this information entering the public domain.

But Lord Gove said: "My view at the time, advised by Dominic and by others within the department, was that it was definitely better for it to be published."

"So we said to Rotherham, we will join the case, but we're joining it on the side of the Times and Andrew Norfolk because we believe in transparency."

The Department for Education and Rotherham Council were approached for comment earlier this week on the claims first made by Dominic Cummings, revealed by Sky News.

We're starting tonight's programme with a discussion about the latest on the situation in the Middle East - including Donald Trump's deliberations on whether to join Israeli strikes on Iran.

Catch up on the latest here:

Our flagship weeknight politics programme is under way.

We will be joined by former veteran cabinet minister Lord Michael Gove, and former MP and Post Office scandal campaigner Lord Beamish (Kevan Jones).

On our panel is Guto Harri, former Downing Street director of communications, and Baroness Luciana Berger, former MP.

Watch live on Sky News and in the stream at the top of this page.

The Horizon scandal captured the nation after the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

And now, more faulty Post Office accounting software has been uncovered, in what some are calling a second Post Office scandal.

Today, the government's announced details of a compensation scheme for postmasters who suffered through using Capture in the 1990s.

In today鈥檚 episode, Sarah-Jane Mee is joined by news correspondent Adele Robinson, who has unearthed new evidence to show the system was faulty and speaks to families devastated by the scandal.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy looks set to travel more than 7,000 miles in 48 hours as the UK engages in whirlwind diplomacy as tensions in the Middle East continue to ratchet up.

Last night, he flew from London to Washington DC to meet with the United States secretary of state Marco Rubio - the American equivalent of the foreign secretary - and Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

According to Rubio's published itinerary, this will be taking place at 2pm local time today - 7pm UK time - and unusually will be at the White House.

There is no press access.

Lammy only arrived in the US just before 4am UK time, having left from the UK at around 7pm.

Meeting with the Iranians

Yesterday, it was reported that the E3 countries will be meeting with Iranian representatives in Geneva on Friday.

This includes Germany, France and the UK, with the group set up to engage in nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Sky News now understands Lammy will be attending this meeting as well - meaning he will have to return across the Atlantic on his government plane.

It seems that the European Union might also be involved in the talks.

Reuters reports - via German diplomatic sources - that the talks are taking place in coordination with the US.

The agency adds that they want assurances that Iran's nuclear programme will only be used for civilian purposes.

Families affected by serious maternity failings at an NHS trust in Nottingham say the health secretary has 'moved considerably' towards an England-wide public inquiry.

Wes Streeting held a private meeting with the group as the largest-ever NHS maternity review, led by Donna Ockenden, examines hundreds of cases involving mothers and babies who suffered poor care and harm at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

Mr Streeting has previously described a damning report into maternity failings across England as a "cause for national shame" adding the "crisis in our maternity services... is one of the biggest issues that keeps me awake at night".

Among those taking part in the discussion on Thursday was Sarah Hawkins, whose baby daughter was stillborn in 2016 after negligent care at the trust. She told Sky News the meeting was "really positive".

"I think Wes [Streeting] listened to us and we felt heard. It's very obvious he wants rapid change, and I think what we really focused on was the legacy and we need accountability and we needed public inquiry.

"That door is still open, and what we've really enforced today was that we needed statutory public inquiry into England's maternity services."

Her husband Jack Hawkins, who was also at the meeting, felt the health secretary's position was shifting.

"I think he has moved considerably since we have been talking to him, and certainly even this week. I think at the beginning of this week, a public inquiry was not... in the forefront. Now he's [Streeting] actively looking for reasons not to have one."

In June, Nottinghamshire Police confirmed it was investigating NUH for potential corporate manslaughter offences and in February the trust was fined 拢1.6m in connection with the deaths of three babies in 2021.

The Tory leader has been out and about today, and she spoke to broadcasters as the world awaits Donald Trump's decision on whether the US will join Israel in striking Iran.

Asked if the UK should support US military action, Kemi Badenoch said: "The most important thing is to make sure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons, and we need to make that we support Israel in its activity to defend itself and protect itself."

But she said she is "worried" about the Diego Garcia military base in Mauritius, arguing that Labour has "surrendered" sovereignty of the territory to the ally of China, which is an ally of Iran, and said we'd need their "permission to launch" any kind of action from there.

"These are the sorts of things that show that Labour has very bad judgement, which is weakening our national security," she said.

Asked if parliament should get a say on any UK involvement, Badenoch replied: "I think it's very important that parliament has a say, but we also need a government to be able to make quick decisions."

She went on to say that "we always want to start with a diplomatic solution", but "there are some countries that are not interested in diplomacy or who are only pretending to [engage in] diplomacy while they're actually accumulating nuclear weapons".

"Iran launched a terrorist attack which was foiled on UK soil. They're not an ally of the UK. The world would be an extremely dangerous place if they get nuclear weapons," she said, adding that she wants to see "all necessary activity done to make sure that they don't acquire these nuclear weapons".

The Tory leader said she would approve American bombing raids from Diego Garcia, but what's key is acting "in the British national interest".

I have just spoken to the French ambassador to the UK - who very rarely does anything on camera - to talk about the need for de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict amid growing concerns the US will get involved.

It's a moment of great jeopardy for all European allies, our prime minister, and all European leaders pushing for de-escalation.

The message from the French ambassador today is to step back and de-escalate.

There will be talks in Geneva tomorrow between Iranian officials and Europe's leading politicians - David Lammy, as well as the foreign ministers of France, Germany, although no country formally confirming.

It is all an attempt to find a solution.

The big question is: will Donald Trump listen?

On his way to the G7 summit in Canada this week, Macron made a stop in Greenland to explicitly make the point that it is sovereign territory, amid Trump's threat to annex the Danish territory.

When the US president left the summit early, Macron suggested it was due to events in the Middle East - but Trump tweeted that the French president was "publicity seeking", adding: "Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong."

Sky's political editor Beth Rigby asked France's ambassador to the UK if this exchange has harmed what once seemed to be a good relationship between the two leaders.

Helene Duchene replied: "Oh, I don't think so. I saw the tweet, of course. But, you know, they have a longstanding relation.

"President Macron was already there, he's the only leader who was there during the first mandate of President Trump."

As a result, she said, the pair have a "longstanding" and "efficient" relationship.