Top News

Nick Ferrari has accused Sir Sadiq Khan of "dodging" questions raised about grooming gangs in London earlier this year, in light of the latest bombshell Express investigation into the issue. Speaking on the exchange between the Conservative Leader in the London Assembly Susan Hall and the Mayor of London, the LBC presenter said Khan engages in "wordplay" and "appears to downplay the existence of gangs".

In January, Ms Hall made nine consecutive attempts during Mayor's Question Time to ask Khan whether gangs were currently operating, or had previously been active, in the capital. But he repeatedly challenged the former Tory mayoral candidate to clarify what she meant by "grooming gangs", stating, "I'm not clear what she means." In one exchange, the mayor said "the situation in London in relation to young people being groomed is different to the parts of the country".

When questioned on the number of grooming gangs in the capital, he said: "We know in London, there are issues about exploitation of young people but they are not as defined as the member of her definition of what those types of gangs are."

In response to the clip, Mr Ferrari said on his morning show on Monday: "Dodging to a degree, surely."

Express Investigations Editor Zak Garner-Purkis exposed several potential grooming gang cases in London, alongside MyLondon.

Speaking on LBC, Mr Garner-Purkis said: "Both the Mayor and Sir Mark Rowley had previously not used the term grooming gangs and have now both used the term grooming gangs publicly."

Initially, Khan asserted that there were "no reports" or "indications" that London was affected by the type of abuse seen in towns like Rochdale and Rotherham. However, on Friday (October 24) evening, the Metropolitan Police revealed that they are now reassessing 9,000 files after the recent Express investigation.

"I think we need to go back through this and say how were Sadiq Khan and Sir Mark Crowley so confident about their being no indication," Mr Garner-Purkis continued.

"How has that turned 180 to the complete opposite. The way he is looking at it now is not that London just has a few grooming gangs, London is the capital for grooming gangs in the whole country. How has that happened?"

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: "Any individuals or gangs exploiting children for sex are utterly abhorrent. Sadiq is quite clear that they must face the full force of the law. These children have not only suffered terrible abuse at the hands of the perpetrators but have been woefully let down by the authorities meant to protect them from harm."

They added: "The Mayor remains vigilant to emerging and changing threats around child exploitation and will continue to support and hold the Met to account to ensure it does everything possible to tackle child sexual exploitation in London."