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Parliament must "step up" and launch its own swift investigation into the grooming gangs scandal, according to Nigel Farage (Reform). The Reform leader suggested a joint initiative by both the Commons and Lords could lead to a special commission into the decades-long scandal.
Ellie-Ann Reynolds, a grooming gangs survivor, blasted the Government for "gaslighting" during attempts to set up a national inquiry. She explained at a press conference in central London that she had left the Government's fledgling national inquiry because Home Office figures were "being manipulative".
Farage's parliamentary plan
Farage told journalists he planned to meet Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Monday evening to propose Parliament use its "extraordinary powers" to investigate the scandal. He also said he would write to Dame Karen Bradley, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, to propose that a subcommittee could be set up quickly.
The planned national inquiry is no longer "laser focused on the grooming gangs issue", Farage suggested. His investigation could take the form of a "commission", comparing it to the independent commission on banking launched after the financial crisis.
"I am saying, here is the most enormous opportunity for Parliament, and indeed for this Government, to restore some public trust in the institution and those that currently inhabit it on an issue that has been gnawing away at our public consciences for well over a decade," he added.
National inquiry in disarray
Reynolds was among five women who departed from the victims liaison panel informing the new national inquiry into grooming gangs. Their departure and the loss of two candidates to chair the probe threw it into disarray last week.
She told the press conference she had encountered a "very controlling atmosphere" on the panel. "It was very gaslighting and very manipulative," Reynolds said. "We all went on to do the right thing, and that was to seek justice, that was to find the truth, to not be silenced anymore, and to be able to help our future."
The way victims were spoken to was "very degrading", she added. The survivor said she would not name names about who was responsible for these activities, but pointed to "higher up" people in the Home Office.
Why survivor chose Farage
Asked why she had chosen to take the stage alongside the Reform leader, Reynolds explained: "My choice was because, quite frankly, us girls and young boys, because young boys are nowhere near as mentioned as they should be - we will go to anybody that will listen." She described meeting with her local Labour MP and begging for help, but receiving no action nearly a year later.
"I will go to anybody that will listen, and anybody that's going to make a change to this country," Reynolds concluded.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
