PM under ‘immense’ pressure over grooming gangs inquiry, says Farage

The Prime Minister is under “immense” pressure to call a national inquiry into grooming gangs, Nigel Farage has said as he reiterated his demand for a new review.

The Prime Minister is under “immense” pressure to call a national inquiry into grooming gangs, Nigel Farage has said as he reiterated his demand for a new review.

Comparing previous inquiries to a “shotgun approach”, the Reform UK leader told his party’s north-west regional conference on Saturday that a new inquiry needed to be a “rifle shot” dealing with gangs “predominantly of Pakistani origin” preying on “young, in most-cases working-class white girls”.

He said: “Unless we get to the bottom of what has happened here, to understand the full extent and scale of what has happened here, to understand the motives of those who perpetrated these crimes – which frankly I believe are more than likely to be deeply racist in nature – unless we confront this head on, we are never going to have a path to stopping it.”

Mr Farage added that he welcomed Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s decision to “break ranks” and call for an inquiry, saying: “I think the pressure on the Prime Minister is becoming immense.”

Mr Farage made his remarks after an introduction by Elizabeth Harper, a survivor of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, who also called for an inquiry.

Insisting that a new inquiry should be completed within nine months, he reiterated his pledge that Reform would establish its own review if the Government did not act by the end of January.

His speech comes a day after the director of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Hydrant programme targeting sexual abuse said there was no “significant issue” with “any particular ethnicity or setting”.

Published: 11/01/2025 by Radio NewsHub