Khan accused of refusing to take seriously (Image: Getty)
Sadiq Khan has been accused of “sulking” and refusing to take grooming gangs in London seriously amid demands for a London-specific inquiry. A furious clash erupted in the London Assembly following the publication of a report into child sexual exploitation in the capital, which claimed catastrophic failures by police and councils meant grooming gangs would have gone undetected.
Questioned on whether or not he would launch an inquiry with new funding from the government, the Mayor appeared to look down at his papers. Susan Hall, the author of the report, erupted: “Oh you’re sulking now, are you sulking? We hate it when you sulk.”
Read more: Sadiq Khan urged to act after ‘failures’ exposed in grooming gang report
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The Conservative leader in London continued to repeatedly press Sir Sadiq on whether he would commit money to investigating grooming gangs in the capital, insisting vulnerable children had been failed by the system.
“I can’t think of any better value for money than to spend it on looking into these grooming gangs. Because if nothing else, these children need to be looked after,” Ms Hall said.
She added: “The children that suffer from these grooming gangs deserve so much better from all of us.” But the Mayor refused to give a direct answer on funding, instead insisting his regime had taken action on child protection.
“I take the issue of Child Exploitative Crime very seriously,” Sir Sadiq said.
“We actioned all the recommendations made by His Majesty’s Inspectorate, so we have a child first approach,” he added.
Ms Hall demanded clarity, asking bluntly: “Will you or will you not put money into [looking into] these grooming gangs?”
The exchange descended into furious acrimony as Ms Hall appeared to lose her temper with the Mayor’s evasive answers.
“You annoy me, because this is such an important bloody issue, and you will not take it seriously,” she shouted, slamming her hand on the table.
Sir Sadiq attempted to deflect as he accused his rivals of “play[ing] to the cameras.”
He added: “We will leave no stone unturned.”
The heated confrontation came as Ms Hall’s report laid bare alleged systemic failures across London’s child protection system, claiming authorities were too afraid of being labelled racist to pursue grooming gangs.
The report alleged that the police and councils had failed vulnerable children for decades, with a 2016 inspection revealing 75% of Met child sexual abuse cases were poorly handled.
Hall erupted: ‘You’re sulking’ at Khan (Image: Getty)
Ms Hall has called for a dedicated London module within the national grooming gangs inquiry and demanded £5million in funding – a proposal previously rejected by Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Assembly members.
The Mayor has persistently refused to launch a London-specific inquiry despite mounting pressure from campaigners and revelations he had read reports describing young girls being raped by groups of men whilst publicly denying grooming gangs existed in the capital.
Today’s clash has escalated the issue further and exposed growing divisions over how London is tackling child sexual exploitation, with Ms Hall accusing the Mayor of prioritising political point-scoring over protecting the capital’s most vulnerable children.
The Met announced last year it would review 9,000 cases of child sexual exploitation, but critics say far more action is needed to uncover the true scale of abuse in London.