Abuse campaigner Marilyn Hawes has issued a stark warning about the lifelong impact on grooming gang victims, amid growing calls for a national inquiry.
Speaking on GB News, Hawes said: "How are these young girls going to live normal lives? As a wife, as a mother? They have a life sentence and they can't appeal."
She criticised the government's reluctance to investigate fully, stating: "The Government want to keep the lid on the can of worms and don't want to do anything. They want it to go away."
Hawes called for an inquiry to "name and shame and dig out the people responsible" for allowing such abuse to continue.
Marilyn Hawes said it's 'unacceptable' that an inquiry has not been called
GB NEWS
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the Prime Minister is under "immense" pressure to call a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Speaking at his party's north-west regional conference on Saturday, Farage demanded a new "rifle shot" inquiry focusing on gangs "predominantly of Pakistani origin" targeting "young, in most-cases working-class white girls".
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Charlie Peters speaks to a victim of Britain's Pakistani grooming gangsGB NewsGreater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham became the most senior Labour figure to back calls for a national inquiry last week.
Nigel pledged that Reform would launch its own review if the Government fails to act by the end of January.
Elizabeth Harper, a Rotherham grooming survivor, also supported the calls during the conference.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned against "irresponsible and coarse public discourse" on the issue, citing concerns about potential violence against Muslims.
Marilyn Hawes spoke on GB News
GB NEWS
Streeting told The Guardian that people of Pakistani heritage in his community "are now more fearful today than they were before".
Recent polling by More in Common has highlighted public dissatisfaction with the government's handling of grooming gangs.
The survey found 60 per cent of people believed the current Labour Government had not done enough to address the issue.
An even higher proportion, 69 per cent, said the same about the previous Conservative administration.
More than half of the 2,011 respondents reported having little or no confidence in the justice system's handling of child sexual exploitation allegations.
The poll also revealed that 41 per cent of people thought grooming gang activities had been deliberately covered up.
