Nigel Farage has launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer after the Labour leader suggested discussions about grooming gangs are being influenced by "far-right" misinformation.
The comments came after Starmer addressed what he described as social media campaigns against his Government, particularly regarding the decision not to hold a new public inquiry into grooming gangs.
The heated exchange follows mounting pressure for a fresh investigation into grooming gangs operating in the north of England.
Starmer's comments came during a key speech at a hospital in the south east of England, where he aimed to address NHS reform and confront attacks from tech billionaire Elon Musk and other right-wing populists.
Nigel Farage fumed at the government
GB News
Nigel Farage said on GB News: "Oh dear. It's all the far right. Wanting to know the truth means you're part of the far right.
“Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, she'll be asking in the House of Commons, she'll be putting an amendment down, effectively saying there needs to be a full public inquiry.
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“Her difficulty, of course, is that the Conservative government, when they were faced with this, didn't have an inquiry.
“There was one, but it was a whitewash, frankly, because it only looked at what had happened in six towns and cities, as opposed to the 50 that we know about now. And grooming was just but a part of it.
“What we need here is an inquiry that is not a shotgun that deals with all of the problems that young people can face, and that can be through the church or elsewhere we know about these things.
“We need a rifle that deals with what I believe was outright racist behaviour against young white girls, who some, mercifully few, but some in the Pakistani community simply thought were trash.
Starmer responded to days of criticism from Elon Musk
REUTERS“I have said that if the Government don't give us a full review, that I will raise the money and put the money towards an independent inquiry. And I mean it.”
The Prime Minister's speech marked his first major response to social media campaigns against his Government since last summer's riots.
The controversy has intensified after Musk made claims that Starmer and his ministers were "complicit" in "genocidal mass rape" regarding the grooming gangs issue.
Starmer accused opposition politicians of "amplifying what the far-right is saying" after failing to act "for 14 long years"
PAThe Prime Minister hit back, saying those "spreading lies and misinformation are not interested in victims."
He accused opposition politicians of "amplifying what the far-right is saying" after failing to act "for 14 long years."
Health Secretary Wes Streeting suggested Musk should have a "social media detox."
Downing Street denied that Starmer had labelled everyone calling for an inquiry as far-right, the Prime Minister was instead criticising politicians for jumping on a far-right bandwagon, according to Number 10.
