‘What are you doing?!’ Bev Turner hits out at Kemi Badenoch for regurgitating ‘triggering’ remark in GB News interview

Speaking in a heated rant on GB News, Bev said: "When Kemi Badenoch did the interview with Charlie Peters yesterday, the fact that she said I'm not jumping on a far right bandwagon.

"What are you doing? You can't use that phrase far right.

"It's triggering for a lot of people, because it's just wrong and it's inaccurate and it's not truthful about the objections that absolutely normal right minded people in this country, right as in correct not politically right, about the rape gangs.

"Why did she even regurgitate that phrase? If she was going to use the phrase far right, she needed to explain that word."

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The criticism came as part of a broader discussion about Badenoch's GB News interview, where the Tory leader called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Badenoch emphasised there was "a lot of misinformation" and "generalisation" around the issue, warning that "many innocent people will end up being grouped in" with perpetrators.

In her GB News appearance, she blamed the grooming gangs scandal on people with "peasant backgrounds" from "sub-communities" within foreign countries.

The leader of the opposition pointed to what she called a "systematic pattern of behaviour" that wasn't limited to just one country.

"This is about those victims who deserve justice," she told GB News.

The Government has thus far rejected calls for a national review, instead favouring locally-led inquiries.

Ministers have argued that the focus should be on implementing recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay's 2022 report.

The issue has recently resurfaced following social media posts by US billionaire Elon Musk at the start of the year.

Labour MP Sarah Champion has joined calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. The Rotherham MP proposed a "Telford-style" inquiry that would be led locally but coordinated by the Home Office.

Champion set out a five-point plan including a "national audit" to determine if grooming gangs are still operating or if cases have been missed. She warned that local inquiries lack the power to compel witnesses and would fail to address public concerns about cover-ups.

"Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority," Champion said.

She suggested inquiries could be triggered by local councils, police self-referrals, or concerns raised by an independent panel.