Pakistani-heritage Muslim Sadiq Khan has refused to say if predominantly Pakistani-heritage Muslim grooming gangs currently operate in London during a Mayor’s Question Time meeting. London Assembly Member Susan Hall, for the Conservatives, asked Khan, of the Labour Party, “Just how many grooming gangs have we got in London?” However, Khan chose to act as though he did not understand the question.
Khan began talking about children being groomed into “county lines”—drug-running gangs—but Hall pressed him to address the issue of “rape gangs,” specifically.
“To avoid any misunderstanding, can she define what she means by that?” Khan asked the chairman of the meeting.
Hall clarified she was referring to gangs like the ones in the town of Rotherham, grooming underage girls for sex. “Well, uh, we know in London there are issues about exploitation of young people, but they’re not as defined by the member in her definition of what, uh, those types of gangs are,” Khan waffled.
Hall pressed Khan to confirm London does not have the same types of abusers as in Rotherham, Bradford, and other towns blighted by rape gangs, and Khan again feigned ignorance, saying, “Just so there’s no misunderstanding, what does she mean by that?”
Hall said Khan knew “full well” what she was talking about, but Khan again said, “Can she be clear what she means by that? I’m not clear what she means?” and again, later, “I’m unclear, chair, what is meant by the question, if she could spell it out, I can answer.”
No answer was forthcoming, despite several exchanges like this, with Khan returning to the issue of exploitation generally and “county lines” gangs.
Muslim grooming gangs have been a major issue in British politics for weeks as figures from Elon Musk to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage have highlighted the issue, critiquing the Labour government for initially refusing to launch a national inquiry investigation the scandal.
Do we have grooming gangs in London? When @Councillorsuzie asked Sadiq Khan, he didn’t seem to even know what they were – watch him repeatedly dodge the question: pic.twitter.com/I2WR1p2H5M
— City Hall Conservatives (@CityHallTories) January 16, 2025
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