Nigel Farage has predicted that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will change his position on calls for a national grooming gangs inquiry.
Speaking on GB News, the ex-UKIP leader pledged that Reform UK would fund its own investigation if Labour refuses to act.
“If Labour don’t do a national inquiry, I will raise the money, whatever it costs, and I will do it,” Nigel said.
His comments come after Labour MPs voted down a Conservative amendment calling for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs on Wednesday evening.
Keir Starmer will change his mind on a grooming gangs inquiry, predicts Nigel Farage
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“I think Keir Starmer is going to shift on this,” Nigel added, criticising the previous Jay inquiry as “very broad” with limited focus on specific cases.
Labour MPs rejected the Conservative amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill by 364 votes to 111.
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Keir StarmerGB NEWSThe amendment, which would have blocked the Bill’s progress, was supported by 101 Conservative MPs, five Reform UK MPs, and several other opposition members.
Sir Keir Starmer had earlier dismissed the Conservative proposal as “shortsighted and misguided” during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Labour leader argued that victims wanted “action now, not the delay of a further inquiry.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch countered that a new inquiry was the only way to “join the dots” and hold people to account.
Andy Burnham has backed a national inquiry, piling more pressure on Keir Starmer
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However, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has indicated he would support a national inquiry, suggesting potential movement within Labour ranks.
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday, Burnham said: “I am not opposed to that sort of [national] review.”
He explained that local reviews, like those conducted in Greater Manchester, had limitations as they couldn’t compel witnesses to give evidence.
“I do think there’s a case for limited national inquiry which draws on local reviews to draw out some of these issues which compels people to speak. It may draw out charges,” Burnham said.
The mayor’s comments followed his launch of reviews into systematic child sexual abuse across Greater Manchester since 2017.
The latest calls for an inquiry follow the completion of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse in 2022.
The inquiry’s author, Prof Alexis Jay, described child sexual abuse as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake.”
The investigation examined abuse by organised groups following multiple convictions across the UK between 2010-2014, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale, and Bristol.
However, ministers in the previous Conservative government did not implement the inquiry’s 20 recommendations before leaving office.