‘Not acceptable!’ Nigel Farage clashes with Laura Kuenssberg in groomi | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Nigel Farage says the nation ought to be “ashamed of” the grooming scandal that rocked Britain as he reignited requires a nationwide inquiry.

The Reform UK chief clashed with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg as he defended Elon Musk after the billionaire attacked the UK Government over its dealing with of grooming gangs in a sequence of posts on X.

The billionaire proprietor of the social media platform, beforehand generally known as Twitter, recommended Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to steer a public inquiry into little one sexual exploitation in Oldham.

He additionally attacked Sir Keir Starmer, saying the Prime Minister didn’t carry “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions.

Mr Farage instructed the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that Mr Musk had used “very tough terms” however that “free speech was back” on X beneath his possession.

And he took umbrage on the BBC presenter for describing the victims of the scandal as being “let down”.

When requested why folks in Britain are “angry”, main them to affix Reform UK, Mr Farage mentioned: “The reopening of the grooming scandal – what should be called the mass rape scandal – has got people asking what has happened to our country.

“How might this have probably ever occurred, why would folks wish to cowl it up? Why has there been no full public inquiry? People are offended about that and they’re proper to be, completely proper to be.”

Mr Musk’s latest incendiary intervention on UK politics came after Ms Phillips, a safeguarding minister, instructed Oldham Council to launch its own local inquiry into historic child sexual abuse in the town, similar to inquiries set up in Rochdale and Telford.

The local authority had called for a government-led inquiry.

The tech tycoon suggested Sir Keir had failed to properly prosecute rape gangs while director of public prosecutions (DPP), and has repeatedly shared posts from Reform and Conservative MPs calling for a national inquiry.

Mr Musk, who is a key advisor to incoming US President Donald Trump, called the prime minister “two-tier Keir” and accused Ms Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist”.

Pressing Mr Farage over Musk’s social media posts, Ms Kuenssberg later asked: “Nobody would deny that many, many younger women had been appallingly let down by folks throughout the piece however my query to you as a senior politician, anyone who needs to get to No 10…

“I am sorry but I really don’t think ‘let down’ is an acceptable way of putting this. It’s as if ‘oh well, it’s all a little bit of a pity’. No, what happened was absolutely awful in way that we should be absolutely ashamed of. Ashamed of in every way.”

Mr Farage added: “”This man occurs to be the richest man on the earth, however equally, the truth that he is purchased Twitter now really provides us a spot the place we are able to have a correct open debate about many issues… We could discover it offensive, but it surely’s a very good factor, not a nasty factor,” he said.

Earlier this week, Mr Farage distanced himself from Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson – a far-right activist who is serving a jail term for committing contempt of court.

Mr Farage added: “I simply suppose folks ask themselves, what has occurred to our nation? How might this probably have occurred? Why did everyone wish to cowl it up? Why has there been no full public inquiry?”

There have been several investigations into grooming gangs in various parts of England, including Rotherham, Bristol, Cornwall and Derbyshire.

An inquiry into abuse in Rotherham found 1,400 children had been sexually abused over a 16-year period, predominantly by British Pakistani men.

An investigation in Telford found that up to 1,000 girls had been abused over 40 years – and that some cases had not been investigated because of “nervousness about race”.

Police figures from 2023 reveal that group-based little one sexual abuse accounted for 3.7% of all sexual offences towards kids reported to police.

According to the information, 26% of group-based little one sexual abuse occurred inside households, in contrast with 17% involving teams together with grooming gangs.