I’m not the only one sure that something nasty must be happening in London, a city of 8 million people over half of whom are of immigrant ethnic background. Readers might remember my previous posts on the subject, in 2019 and here in 2023.
That girls reported being groomed in the McDonalds restaurant in Stratford near the Olympic park and then being raped by the men who ‘befriended’ them. So far as anybody can find out no prosecutions were ever brought. London assembly memebers Peter Whittle and David Kurten both asked questions of Sadiq Khan and never got a proper answer. Operation Grandbye was absorbed in a general ‘safe cities’ initiative.
Today the Conservative candidate for London Mayor at the last election, Susan Hall, tackled Sadiq Khan directly, for the second time this month, (earlier questions here) as reported by GB News
Sir Sadiq Khan was involved in a heated City Hall exchange earlier today after refusing to answer if he was aware of any grooming gangs operating in London.
The Mayor faced questions from former London Tory leader Susan Hall, who demanded to know if he was aware of any gangs operating in the capital.
But when pressed, Khan asked: “Can she define what she means by that?”
Hall referred to the abuse gangs in areas such as Rotherham and Bradford, but again Khan asked: “What does she mean by that?”
He again asked Hall to “spell it out” after another explanation of group localised child sexual exploitation.
Hall said that they were “the sort of gangs that groom young girls at a young age for sex. How much clearer do you want me to be?”
Reacting to the spat, Hall told GB News: “Everyone across this country knows what the grooming gangs are, and I don’t believe Khan for one minute when he says it’s unclear. Young girls were hopelessly abused, and may yet still be suffering abuse if these gangs continue to operate. This isn’t about politics – we need answers, and we need them now. Pathetically shirking his responsibilities is not going to cut it. Khan dodged the questions today, he needs to come to the assembly and answer them – and put the concerns of Londoners at ease.”
In my opinion his body language was uncomfortable and convinced me that he knows about something bigger than the one-on-one rapes of younger teenage girls that do sometimes get reported, and the official line is to downplay any bigger organised crimes. Otherwise why not say something like, “thankfully no, although the frequent knife fights and the danger posed by ‘County Lines’ drug gangs remain a great concern.”
Watch the weasel wriggle here.
NEW @GBNEWS: Sadiq Khan asks Tories to ‘define’ grooming gangs as he is accused of dodging questions on the abuse scandal pic.twitter.com/XJvN7hX1Is
— Charlie Peters (@CDP1882) January 16, 2025
Susan Hall said later “Everyone across this country knows what the grooming gangs are, and I don’t believe Khan for one minute when he says it’s unclear. Young girls were hopelessly abused, and may yet still be suffering abuse if these gangs continue to operate. This isn’t about politics – we need answers, and we need them now. Pathetically shirking his responsibilities is not going to cut it. Khan dodged the questions today, he needs to come to the assembly and answer them – and put the concerns of Londoners at ease.”
Some believe Khan was trying to get Mrs Hall to specify ‘Muslim’ or ‘Pakistani’ or ‘Asian’ gangs, thus allowing him to dismiss her question as ‘racist’; but she didn’t rise to his bait.
I don’t suppose Shaun Bailey (now Lord Bailey) the previous Conservative candidate will get an answer to his recent letter to the Mayor on the same subject either.
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2 Responses
It was a set of extraordinary evasions by Sadiq Khan https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/grooming-gangs-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-stonewalling-tory-questions-b1205508.html – I think ultimately that Susan Hall should have been prepared to specify exactly what transpired, in which a specific community was clearly overrepresented in terms of involvement. Khan could have sought to label same racist – that could briefly stir trouble for him but would ultimately strengthen his appeal politically, we are in an uncertain climate where a review with statutory powers could eventually arrive.