𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

London will be one of the first places to be investigated in the grooming gangs inquiry, following a major Daily Express investigation. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of “living under a rock” and wilfully turning a blind eye to the epidemic in his city by a courageous victim who was repeatedly trafficked directly into the capital.

And the Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs has confirmed London, Oldham and Bradford and Keighley will be the first areas to face local investigations.

Investigators will explore “consider the wider network of grooming gangs across London’s satellite towns and cities”.

And it will focus on the capital’s role “in the national network of grooming gangs”. They admitted there needs to be an “early investigation” because London “has the highest rate of referrals for child sexual exploitation” in the country and extensive transport links connecting the entire country.

Announcing the probe, inquiry officials said: “London presents a different context because of its scale and complexity, with multiple boroughs and overlapping local, regional and national systems.

“The Inquiry will examine how group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse by grooming gangs has been identified and responded to, including London’s links with surrounding or connected areas.

“It will also take account of relevant work underway, including by the London Assembly.”

This could bring Sir Sadiq and the Metropolitan Police’s response to the gangs under the spotlight.

Officials added: “The Inquiry will consider the appropriate scope and structure of the London investigation as evidence is gathered.

“That will include examining pan-London systems, particular boroughs, cross-boundary safeguarding, policing and partnership arrangements, and links between London and surrounding or satellite areas where the evidence shows relevant movement, trafficking, exploitation routes or associated criminal exploitation, including issues linked or analogous to county lines.”

Despite Mr Khan’s past denials of a grooming gang crisis in London, Girl One from the notorious Oxford scandal, says her experiences in the capital mirror the exact same systematic way gangs operated in towns like Rotherham and Rochdale, and points out her own horrific first-hand experiences prove otherwise.

As a vulnerable 13-year-old, she was repeatedly transported by her abusers from Oxford and locked in rooms across the country, including homes dotted in and around the capital.

“We were taken to London,” she revealed, speaking exclusively to the Daily Express. “One of the other girls involved directly in my case was often found at King’s Cross Station. I was taken to places around south-west London, and also neighbouring areas such as Slough and Luton.

“I don’t think it’s possible for us to say that in the country’s largest city, there wouldn’t be a problem with grooming. If it can happen in a posh, wealthy city like Oxford, it’s definitely happening in London. And probably has been since the 90s.”

She added: “I think the Mayor is living under a rock.

“Sadiq Khan is a Muslim, isn’t he? So he’s not going to want to say, ‘Oh yes, we’ve got a problem in London with Muslims grooming white girls.’

“He’s not going to want to say that, so there’s probably that element to it as well. But is it happening in London? I would bet everything I own that it is still happening in London today.”

An Express/MyLondon investigation unearthed six potential grooming gang victim cases in Met Police reports read by Sadiq Khan.

Case studies highlighted in watchdog reports – uncovered by the Daily Express – describe children being plied with drugs and alcohol, raped in hotels by groups and having their lives threatened.

Sir Sadiq and Scotland Yard consistently claimed to have “no reports” of Rochdale or Rotherham-style rape gangs in the capital.

But the Met has admitted it is reviewing 9,000 cases.

Alicia Kearns MP, Shadow Safeguarding Minister, said: “After years of fighting to be heard, grooming gang survivors have secured a major breakthrough with the announcement of the first local inquiries.

“The Victims’ Charter and National Accountability Hearings are welcome steps forward.

“But let’s be clear: anyone found to have failed children must be named, held accountable, and face consequences.

“Survivors deserve justice. The country deserves the truth.”

Tory MP Robbie Moore said of the announcing of an inquiry across Bradford: “This is a watershed moment and marks a significant turning point in the pursuit of justice, truth and accountability for victims and survivors right across our area.

“It comes almost two decades after Anne Cryer first had the courage to raise this issue in Parliament. The inquiry will be fully independent of Bradford Council.

“It will focus on examining failures in local and national safeguarding systems, evidence handling, institutional accountability, and investigate the role of ethnicity, race and culture, and allegations of systematic abuse covered up by authorities.

“It will have statutory powers to compel witnesses and evidence. And where there is evidence of wrongdoing or cover-ups, it will be able to refer matters to the police. No one will be able to hide.

“Now we owe it to survivors, and to thousands across our area who suffered in silence, to see this through together. This inquiry must seek the truth – however horrific it may be. And bring about justice to those who have been failed for far too long.”

The £65 million probe is investigating how grooming gangs operated and how police, councils, health services, social care services and schools responded.

Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, Chair of the Inquiry, said: “The Inquiry’s task is to find out why this catastrophic failure of the state happened and continues to happen, to establish why victims and survivors of abuse were failed, and to hold to account those institutions and individuals who failed them.

“Our National Accountability Hearings will begin before the end of the year. There have been many inquiries and reviews into grooming gangs and Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse over the past 20 years, putting forward over 800 recommendations, many of which have not been implemented.

“These hearings will help us to establish what national institutions and services should have been doing to implement these findings and to protect children from abuse and harm – and what, if any, progress has been made in areas where investigations have taken place.

“We are determined that our work ensures that no further inquiries into grooming gangs will ever be needed.”

Zoe Billingham CBE, said: “These are the first three local area investigations – more will be announced as the Inquiry progresses.

“We will continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads, gathering and analysing evidence from across England and Wales, including from areas not yet selected for a local investigation.

“We will be forensic in examining what happened in these areas – how institutions responded, why children were not protected, and why opportunities to prevent harm were missed.

“We will look at what was known, how decisions were made, and why earlier action that could have protected children did not happen. We will look at the role culture, ethnicity and religion may have played in the decisions that were taken, and whether some in authority were too squeamish to act.”