When GB News uncovered at least fifty towns across the country believed to be places where the systemic rape of young children by grooming gangs took place, it raised the very real possibility that this despicable criminality occurred in London.
The truth is that we simply do not know, because it has never been examined across the capital. What we do know – from London boroughs Lambeth and Tower Hamlets – is shocking and raises the very real possibility we are looking at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sexual abuse.
A damning investigation ordered by the last Government and published in 2021 found that there were serious, widespread, and despicable child protection failings within Lambeth Council over many decades, with hundreds, if not thousands, of vulnerable children sexually abused as a result. In Tower Hamlets, the Jay Report found Council officials frequently blamed young victims for the appalling sexual abuse they suffered and used the term "boyfriend" when referring to the men who committed this abuse.
If a grooming gang was operating in Lambeth or Tower Hamlets, it almost certainly would not have been found or uncovered.
The shocking response from Sadiq Khan when I asked if grooming gangs exist in London - Susan Hall
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At every opportunity, the Labour Party have tried to stop us from discovering the truth. In Parliament, Labour MPs blocked a Conservative proposal for a national grooming gangs' inquiry. What Labour announced instead – up to five local ‘inquiries’ without enough funding and none of them in London – has now been watered down even further by the Government, to the disgust of the families of the victims.
In City Hall, my Conservative colleagues and I have been pushing for a London-level grooming gang inquiry covering the whole city. We asked the Mayor of London to use his vast resources to commission this and presented him with a fully costed plan to get the victims justice. This was rejected by the Mayor and blocked by Labour, the Lib Dem's and the Green Party.
In January, I asked Sadiq Khan nine times if grooming gangs existed in London. The Mayor’s response was to refuse to answer the question and ask me six times what a grooming gang is. If Sadiq Khan, as Mayor and London’s Police and Crime Commissioner, does not even know what a grooming gang is, how on earth is he, or his office for Police and Crime, going to find out whether they existed in London?
Given Labour’s attempt to block justice for the victims at every opportunity, we must start to ask ourselves – why?
Sir Trevor Phillips was right to call Labour's response to grooming gangs "utterly shameful" this week.
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Former chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Sir Trevor Phillips, pointed us in the right direction this week, when he said that Labour’s response was “utterly shameful” and “so obviously political”, describing how they are “not doing this because of the demographic of the people involved … largely Pakistani Muslim in background, and also in Labour held seats and councils who would be offended by it.”
This is simply not good enough. We cannot allow the victims of these awful, depraved crimes to be brushed aside by Labour for political reasons. Over many years, these girls were failed by councils, police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service. We must uncover the truth because it cannot be allowed to happen again.
In London, the Met and its officers must have the full support of those in power to pursue criminality wherever it is found. If these gangs existed in our capital and exploited, raped, and abused girls, those responsible must be found and they must be punished – regardless of their background, ethnicity, or religion.
Investigating these heinous crimes without fear or favour is the only way we will uncover the truth behind this appalling scandal and deliver justice for the victims.
When approached for comment a spokesperson for the London Mayor's Office told GB News "The Mayor is committed to doing everything in his power to build a safer London for all and is clear that all violence against women and girls must be treated with the utmost urgency both by our police and society as a whole.”
