Kemi Badenoch describes ‘quite shocking’ encounter with victims of grooming gang

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch met with survivors of grooming gangs in Oldham and Rotherham and described the meeting as “quite shocking”.

Speaking to GB News, he said it was “extraordinary” that victims “described going to the authorities multiple times… and in one particular case the police actually arrested her, a 12-year-old girl, with handed over to abusers”. ,

Badenoch is calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, but has faced criticism after reports she has so far failed to meet any victims.

On Monday, Rotherham’s Labor MP, Sarah Champion, joined the growing calls for a full investigation, saying “nothing less… will restore confidence in our security systems”.

Speaking to GB News on Monday evening, Badenoch said she was “going to do everything, and the Conservative Party is going to do everything to make sure you (the survivors) get justice”.

Pressed on why the previous Conservative government had not launched an investigation into grooming gangs, he said: “I think we thought the investigation we launched would be sufficient.”

“I thought, ‘Oh, there’s an investigation, let’s see what comes out,’ and what we’ve seen is that we’ve had a number of non-national inquiries. They’re not enough. Let’s do more.” ” Said.

Badenoch said he believed a new national inquiry should look at “systematic patterns of behaviour” among certain communities in the country.

“These are people from very, very poor, peasant backgrounds – very, very rural, almost cut off even from their countries of origin, where they may have been,” he said. “They don’t necessarily have to be the first generation,” he said.

He said there was a need to address the “culture of silence” in the state.

Between 1997 and 2013, several areas of the country, including Oldham and Rotherham, were affected by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani origin, who raped and trafficked children as young as 11 years old.

One independent reportPublished in 2014 by Professor Alexis Jay, it was estimated that 1,400 girls were abused in Rotherham.

He later led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which lasted seven years and made 20 recommendations.

Professor Jay has previously said victims want to see action taken on his recommendations and are rejecting calls for a new investigation.

There have also been a series of local reviews into child sexual exploitation in Manchester, Rochdale and Oldham, which were published between 2020 and 2024 and found that authorities are failing to protect children from sexual exploitation by gangs of predominantly Asian men .

And in recent weeks, the Conservatives and Reform UK have been calling for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs.

MP earlier this month Voted against Tory move Forcing a fresh national investigation.

Asked whether the reason for not calling a national inquiry was because politicians could be implicated in an affair, and whether the Labor Party was opposed to an inquiry, Badenoch said it was “certainly something that But we have to pay attention.”

He said, “I don’t understand why, when there is so much support even from their own MPs… More and more people are coming out in favor of Labour, and we can’t have a culture of fear.”

“I’m afraid not, the Conservative Party is under new leadership. What we did before to deal with this is clearly not enough, we need to do much more, and Labor needs to get involved too. And if they don’t do that I think they’ll have very serious questions to answer to the voters when the time comes.”

of rochdale Labor MPs joined calls for a new full inquiry on MondaySaying that child sexual abuse was “endemic” in Britain and should be a “national priority”.

Champion, who has been campaigning on child protection for more than a decade, said: “I have long believed that if we are to truly protect children we need to understand the nature of this crime and public bodies The failures in response need to be fully understood.”

He also called for the IICSA report’s recommendations to be implemented “in full, with a timetable and ring-fenced resources”.

Two other Labor representatives from the affected areas – Rochdale MP Paul Waugh and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham – have also called for a limited new inquiry.

But Downing Street has said its priority is to implement the recommendations of the IICSA report, published in 2022.

Last week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said one of the report’s key proposals – mandatory reporting – Will be added to the Crime and Policing Bill.

Number 10 said on Monday the new inquiry would take “a range of views” on the issue, and the government would be “guided and led by victims and survivors”.