Farage suggests Reform UK will fund inquiry into child sexual abuse
The Reform UK leader told the Commons his party will raise the money and appoint ‘independent arbiters’ to conduct the inquiry.
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Your support makes all the difference.Nigel Farage has suggested Reform UK will fund an inquiry into child sexual abuse if the Government fails to do so.
The Reform UK leader said his party will raise the money and appoint “independent arbiters” to conduct the national inquiry.
As MPs debated the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Clacton MP told the Commons there is “overwhelming” support across the political spectrum for an inquiry.
He said: “The Prime Minister is doing his best to tell us there’s been an inquiry, the Jay inquiry. Well, there has, and it’s 459 pages long. Grooming gangs are not mentioned once, Rotherham is literally mentioned once in passing.
Ultimately, it seems to me, there's a deep racist element behind what happened. Now I might be right, I might be wrong, but doesn't the country deserve a full, open national inquiry?
“The scope of that inquiry was like a shotgun, it was to cover a whole range of areas in which children were being abused. What we need, and what we’re calling for, is a rifle shot inquiry.
“One that looks specifically at to what extent were gangs of Pakistani men raping young white girls. Because, ultimately, it seems to me, there’s a deep racist element behind what happened.
“Now I might be right, I might be wrong, but doesn’t the country deserve a full, open national inquiry?”
He added: “If the Government won’t do this – and I do believe there is now overwhelming support on all sides of the political spectrum for this, and Parliament should not be in denial about this – if it doesn’t, then we will raise the money at Reform UK and appoint independent arbiters, because we need the truth to be out there.”
Mr Farage also voiced his support for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s amendment which would halt the progress of the Bill, but added: “I do note that as women and equalities minister from 2022 to 2024, she didn’t meet a single victim of these rapes, and never raised the issue once.
“Insincere though it may be, I will vote for it. We will vote for it.
“But I beg those on the other side of the House to think, don’t you believe that your constituents need to know the truth about this great evil that has happened in our culture?”
Following Mr Farage’s contribution, Labour MP Nadia Whittome said: “The Conservative leadership and Reform MPs marching to the beat of Elon Musk’s drum are plainly weaponising the pain and the trauma of victims for their own political ends.”
The Nottingham East MP added: “When you say that child sexual and exploitation is the result of alien cultures, or a multiculturalism project that has failed, you mask the reality, which is that child sexual abuse and exploitation is happening in every area of this country, perpetrated by members of every social class, every race and every religion.”
Reform UK MPs could be heard saying “no” before she continued by saying: “That is a fact, and when you deny that you are failing victims and survivors.
“Just as perpetrators are diverse, so are their victims.”
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe raised around 30 questions during the debate, including: “Will the Government commit to urgently deporting all guilty foreign nationals involved, including family members who were aware of the crimes and therefore complicit?
“Wives, sisters, mothers, cousins – if they knew and said nothing, these individuals are just as guilty as the rapists themselves.
“Will the Government commit to stripping citizenship from dual nationals implicated and deport them as well? Race or religion must protect nobody.
“Will the Government commit to pausing all Pakistani visas and foreign aid into the country until the Pakistani government agrees to accept any of its deported citizens that have perpetrated these crimes on British soil and also imprisons these rapists and their accomplices in Pakistan however they see fit?
“Will the Government undertake a full investigation into officials who had knowledge of these crimes yet failed to act, establish a specified task force to root out this wicked evil? Don’t just fire these vile individuals, prosecute them.”
Can you imagine, if you're a victim or survivor, listening to that? I'm sure his intent is to get to the truth and to get justice, but the language - please think about who hears our words
The Great Yarmouth MP added: “The mass rape of young white working-class girls by gangs of Pakistani rapists is a rotting stain on our nation. This is not about Elon Musk, this is not a bandwagon of the far right.”
Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, said she was appalled by the language used by Mr Lowe. Speaking directly after him, she said: “I’ve got to say, I feel disgusted by what (he) has just said.
“Can you imagine, if you’re a victim or survivor, listening to that? I’m sure his intent is to get to the truth and to get justice, but the language – please think about who hears our words.”
She said the previous inquiry by Professor Alexis Jay had taken seven years, cost £186 million, had more than two million pages of evidence, and spoke to 725 witnesses and more than 6,000 victims and survivors.
“So I say with the deepest respect to all of those calling for a national inquiry: rather than that, put all of your energy in getting these recommendations adopted, because with the best will in the world … another inquiry will mean another 10 years of waiting.
“And what I want to see, and I truly believe we want to see, is child protection right now.”