Nigel Farage has joined a cross party effort to force the left-wing Labour government to launch a national inquiry into the failures to safeguard young girls from Muslim child rape grooming gangs as his party said it will include a pledge to hold a national inquiry in its next election manifesto.
“If Labour refuses to hold an inquiry, Reform’s manifesto at the next election will commit to legislation for an Inquiry, with statutory powers, into the gangs introduced to Parliament in the first month of the Reform government,” Mr Farage told GB News on Tuesday.
The vow comes as Mr Farage joined a bipartisan campaign launched by the Crush Crime group to pass legislation mandating that the left-wing Labour Party government hold an 18-month national inquiry, which would have subpoena powers to compel witnesses to testify, unlike previous, more limited inquiries.
In addition to the Reform boss, those supporting the effort include Labour peer Lord Glasman, Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, and Conservative frontbencher Katie Lam, The Telegraph reported.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government has shot down past demands for a national inquiry, which could threaten to expose the potential role played by local officials in covering up the decades of sexual abuse and rape suffered by mostly young, impoverished white girls at the hands of mostly Pakistani-heritage men. Some victims were even blamed by police for the abuse they suffered, with girls as young as 12 being accused of prostituting themselves despite being too young to consent to sex.
In previous inquiries, police and other local officials in predominantly Labour-run areas were accused of overlooking the heinous crimes for fear that they would appear racist. Starmer attempted to claim in January that those demanding a full national inquiry were jumping on the “bandwagon of the far-right”.
Breaking from his party leadership, Labour peer Lord Glasman said: “The gangs are still operating. The British public expect action so the police and other services finally get a grip of this disgrace. I support an inquiry to get to the truth and improve how all parts of the state deal with sexual abuse of children”.
Mr Farage, who has been raising the issue for over a decade, added: “Labour and Tories have failed on the grooming gangs. They have failed to bring justice to the thousands of victims across multiple decades of these horrific crimes. They have failed to hold anyone in authority to account for years of cover-ups and failure.
“We must have a comprehensive inquiry that no authority or offender can hide from. We must stop the judges keeping these criminal trials secret, an outrageous recent development that the government ignores. We must have a national inquiry so we stop the gangs that are still organising the sexual abuse of children today.”
The issue was raised in the House of Commons on Monday by Reform MP Lee Anderson, who questioned if the government’s Minister Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Labour MP Jess Phillips, was “part” of the cover-up.
Philips, who has previously shot down other calls for a national inquiry, claiming that past reports and planned local investigations were sufficient, said in response that Anderson’s question “doesn’t deserve” a response.
Nevertheless, she added: “I have spent my entire career helping. There is absolutely no way I would be part of any cover-up. I will do everything I can to make sure those responsible are held accountable.”
Phillips later admitted that there were cover-ups, saying that local inquiries “told us that this happened, and the national inquiry that has told us that there were cover-ups.”
“What we must focus on is to make sure – like what happened in Telford – that there is a local process of accountability that actually changes things on the ground. That is what I’ll do.”
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