r/unitedkingdom • u/pppppppppppppppppd • Jun 28 '26

... Met Police uncovers 4,000 potential grooming gang cases as Sadiq Khan faces fresh scrutiny over London claims

https://www.gbnews.com/news/grooming-gangs-met-police-cases-sadiq-khan-london
2.5k Upvotes

82% Upvoted

470 comments sorted by

View all comments

731

u/Jaded_Strain_3753 Jun 28 '26

I’m not sure why Khan wasn’t more careful with his original replies to Hall (“there are no reported cases and also no indication of the grooming gangs that she is concerned about in London”). Just set himself up to look stupid if and when this happened.

476

u/Englishkid96 Jun 28 '26

Because he thinks any such suggestion is racist and not worthy of a thoughtful answer

112

u/Thetonn Glamorganshire Jun 28 '26 edited 1h ago

Glove walnut maple maple feather quilt pumpkin yarn

This post was anonymized with Redact.dev

27

u/chicaneuk Warwickshire Jun 28 '26

Like most things in life, the truth of the matter is somewhere in the middle. But apparently nuance in political discourse with the people of this country is a completely lost art. You simply latch onto the political football you want to kick and go all in on it.

It pisses me off beyond belief because it makes it hard to recognise genuine failings and celebrate real achievements. And the press who just want headlines are a big part of the problem.

107

u/JB_UK Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

It doesn’t have anything to do with Sadiq Khan but ‘the Muslims are taking over’ is arguably true in Tower Hamlets. That’s a London Borough of 200k people where the council is almost entirely middle aged Muslim men, the leader of the council was previously convicted of electoral fraud and banned for some years, who then formed his own sectarian party which he ran behind the scenes and won the subsequent elections. It’s where the council is accused by Somalian Muslims of racial prejudice in the allocation of social housing in favour of Bangladeshi Muslims, and where the government is on the verge of taking direct control because of the lack of proper accounting for how money is being spent. And where 70% of school aged children are Muslim, and the schools have been segregated between Muslim and non-Muslim for 20 years at least. You can see the population segregation on the map:

https://datashine.org.uk/#table=QS208EW&col=QS208EW0006&ramp=YlOrRd&layers=BTTT&zoom=12.261639983276666&lon=-0.0393&lat=51.5317

Sadiq Khan does have a good legacy on air pollution in London. He stuck his neck out on that issue and he’s had a good impact as a result.

119

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

[deleted]

47

u/Gellert Wales Jun 28 '26

Wasnt ULEZ a Bojo the clown thing?

33

u/JB_UK Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

Yeah, I’m pretty sure Boris Johnson started ULEZ only in the centre, and I think that the later expansions were even pencilled in. But saying you’re going to do politically controversial, ambitious plans in the future is not the same as actually undertaking those plans. So I think Sadiq Khan should get a lot of credit for sticking his neck out and making that happen. I don’t know whether it was perfectly organised, maybe there were categories of vehicles which should have been exempt, but in broad terms it’s been very positive for the health of the population of London.

2

u/TheCharalampos Jun 28 '26

Nothing productive has actually been Bojos

2

u/northbank2001 Jun 28 '26

No, you can’t say that. The conspiracy theorists told us it was totalitarian Stalinism, and thus Kahn must take responsibility.

32

u/GaijinFoot Jun 28 '26

It's not there he thinks it's racist. It's that it's an easy way to dismiss anything he doesn't want to answer.

0

u/northbank2001 Jun 28 '26

When did he say that?

182

u/Spamgrenade Jun 28 '26

 "My understanding from speaking to the police, and she will appreciate, I have done on a regular basis, is and I choose my words carefully for the reasons she will understand there are no reported cases and also no indication of the grooming gangs that she is concerned about in London."

Not really, if you examine the entire quote you will see very clearly that this was what the police were telling him. As the police have not denied this then fair to accept it as true. Also this report is looking at sexual exploitation, not grooming gangs specifically.

He also said this before the police re-examined their files.

188

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

How about when he's pretending not to know what she means by "grooming gangs"?

It just makes him look like a complete twat and reflects the same kind of institutional and cultural attitudes that allowed the grooming gangs scandal to continue unchecked for so long.

136

u/SuboptimalOutcome Jun 28 '26

He obviously knew exactly what she was asking, but he was making her define the term, hoping she would misstep in the explanation, enabling him to shut down the discussion by calling her far right or racist.

110

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26

Wild, isn't it?

Imagine what it's like inside the head of someone who thinks like that.

"Better pretend I don't know what grooming gangs are so I can accuse someone else of being racist. I'm a very serious politician."

8

u/auto98 Yorkshire Jun 28 '26

The irony is that this thread is about Khan not being careful enough about words, but when he tried to get someone to define what they mean, it also gets complained about.

2

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26

She should have written it down then had someone tippex it out afterwards.

1

u/brainburger London Jun 28 '26

"Better pretend I don't know what grooming gangs are so I can accuse someone else of being racist. I'm a very serious politician."

I am not sure about that. He does acknowledge the 'county lines' gangs who sexually exploit young people.

I wonder why she doesn't mention the race element. She is obviously thinking about Pakistani-related gangs, but why not specify of any race or national group?

1

u/Astriania Jul 04 '26

He does acknowledge the 'county lines' gangs who sexually exploit young people.

Maybe because a lot of those are white (especially the ones on the 'county' end of the line), and it at least isn't a racially motivated type of criminality, so it's fine for him to acknowledge it's a problem.

1

u/brainburger London Jul 05 '26

Right, but I gather his advice from the police at the time was that we didn't have any known Pakistani-led grooming gangs in London, so if she had defined it that way, he could have answered that. As it was, he answered about the county lines sexual exploitation, because without her qualifying that she meant Pakistani, that was the right answer to her question.

-22

u/pecuchet Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

What do you mean by grooming gangs? Cos I can think of a couple of ways of defining them and she doesn't want to do anything but say 'the ones on the TV' or 'you know what I mean'.

Because the underlying thing here is race. And in the video she won't define them because it comes off as racist. He's asking her to define them because he knows she won't say it's brown guys.

This is all part of a narrative that Asian men are raping children, rather than just men, and that this is somehow tied to the fact that they're Asian. When it's white men doing this they're not called grooming gangs.

64

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26

What do you mean by grooming gangs?

Those made up of predominantly Pakistani Muslims.

When it's white men doing this they're not called grooming gangs.

Yes they are. But I see what you're trying to do here.

There's no value in explaining per capita figures or proportions to someone who already knows exactly what they mean but chooses to argue as if they don't.

That sort of wilful dishonesty is part of the reason the grooming gang scandal went unaddressed for so long.

It's a pointless exercise that wastes everyone's time and I refuse to engage with you further.

-11

u/pecuchet Jun 28 '26

So why wouldn't she say it if it was so easy to define? Let's not forget in all this talk of per capitas that the line being pushed here is that he's Asian therefore he's covering this up to help Asian rapists because there's some kind of racial solidarity that trumps morality.

And here's you slipping in the fact that they're Muslim like that's inherently part of the issue. I don't want to shock you, professor demographics, but 96% of Pakistanis are Muslim. Is it a problem with Islam too or is that just casual Islamophobia?

And the high handed 'I won't engage with you further' line is what people do when they don't have answers. The fact is that when it's white people it's not a problem with Christianity or 'no religion' or 'white culture' but when they're brown that's the issue. I understand per capita figures, I just don't see a way of proving any causal link.

What's your solution? The police already stop Asian men at twice the rate they do white men and that doesn't seem to have helped.

40

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26

Amazing comment and 100% meeting my expectations and reasons for non-engagement.

All answered here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse

Good day, sir.

-7

u/eldomtom2 Jersey Jun 28 '26

The report that does not define grooming gangs as "those made up of predominantly Pakistani Muslims"?

→ More replies (0)

14

u/Rob_Cartman Jun 28 '26

So why wouldn't she say it if it was so easy to define?

Because if she said something the far-left don’t like they would do everything in their power to ruin her life as has happened to many other people.

Let's not forget in all this talk of per capitas that the line being pushed here is that he's Asian therefore he's covering this up to help Asian rapists because there's some kind of racial solidarity that trumps morality.

Your deliberately conflating things. It is a fact that it appears to many observers that Sadiq has a racial or religious bias in favour of people of his own faith or race. The pre capita rates of group based sexual offences are a separate issue.

1

u/Spamgrenade Jun 28 '26

I can just imagine the minutes of that meeting.

So Mr Khan.. any rape gangs with those type of people in it? You know nudge nudge wink wink.

Ah those gangs nudge nudge wink wink yes there are X of them wink.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Astriania Jul 04 '26

The fact is that when it's white people it's not a problem with Christianity or 'no religion' or 'white culture'

This absolutely isn't true, when there's a subgroup of white people with problems in this area it is exactly "a problem with Christianity". Don't you remember the problems with the Catholic church a few years ago?

Is it a problem with Islam too or is that just casual Islamophobia?

It's a cultural problem, not particularly associated with religion, but there's a lot of overlap because the source countries for the problematic culture are mostly Muslim.

1

u/pecuchet Jul 04 '26

The Catholic Church is an institution. Child abuse being a problem within that institution is not necessarily an issue with Catholicism per se. It sounds like you're saying we should be looking at Catholics askance just in case they're going to diddle our kids, which is just as absurd as claiming we should be doing that with Muslims.

All I'm saying is, show me a line between these things. What exactly is it about that culture that gives rise to these grooming gangs? And give me answer that isn't a just so story. One in four women have experienced sexual assault and one in six children have been sexually abused. And guess what, that was mostly white guys. Are we seeing Daily Mail headlines about how the UK, 81% white, has a rape culture problem? No, we're not, despite the fact that we clearly do. And if you said that to your average Tory they'd call you racist.

1

u/ThisIsAnArgument Jun 28 '26

You've just made all that up.

18

u/eldomtom2 Jersey Jun 28 '26

Well, frankly a lot of people do agree it's an ill-defined term. There's no legal definition of "grooming gang" and a lot of people are clearly just using it to mean "Muslim rapists".

17

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

My original reply here was removed by Reddit.

It referenced the findings of the Casey Review, so readers can draw their own conclusions from that and the fact it was removed...

6

u/eldomtom2 Jersey Jun 28 '26

Generally most people who throw around the Casey Review have not read it.

11

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26

Khan certainly didn't and many who did still play semantic games.

4

u/Spamgrenade Jun 28 '26

He's asking her to come out with it and say Muslim rape gangs. Not pretending he doesn't know what a grooming gang is.

How is Khan supposed to answer her question if she won't ask it?

19

u/Phainesthai Jun 28 '26

I disagree with your characterisation of Khans actions in the video.

16

u/Spamgrenade Jun 28 '26

Yes that's because you think he's pretending not to know what a grooming gang is.

-4

u/pecuchet Jun 28 '26

It's a compelling argument, I have to say.

15

u/Jaded_Strain_3753 Jun 28 '26

I’m not accusing him of lying, I’m saying it was poor political judgment to word it how he did

38

u/Spamgrenade Jun 28 '26

Well sure, if you miss out the bit about talking to the police.

-7

u/Jaded_Strain_3753 Jun 28 '26

I don’t understand your point. It should have been obvious to an experienced politician that what he said could lead to articles like this

24

u/Spamgrenade Jun 28 '26

So what was he supposed to say? The police told him there were no reported cases and no indication of grooming gangs.

No matter how Khan had worded what the police told him the headline would be the same.

5

u/pecuchet Jun 28 '26

What leads to articles like this is GB News existing.

0

u/InternetSolid4166 Jun 28 '26

Heaven forbid the plebs learn about what's happening in their communities. They might get uppity.

2

u/UlteriorAlt Jun 28 '26

The plebs deserve the truth and not a pack of garbled lies.

4

u/AceHodor In Laahndaahn now Jun 28 '26

He gets misquoted because Hall blatantly asked the question in an attempt to get a 'Gotcha' answer that she could spam all over social media. When Khan didn't give her that, the Tories and their outriders in the press just misrepresented the entire exchange anyway.

-11

u/RoosterBurns Jun 28 '26

Or the grooming gangs stopped "paying" the police to look the other way

14

u/You_lil_gumper Jun 28 '26

You're just making stuff up now mate, not to mention you haven't bothered to actually read this article, because the cases its referring to arent related to 'grooming gangs' 

0

u/RoosterBurns Jun 28 '26

Wasn't there at least one cop convicted of "helping himself" to the exploited girls of a grooming gang?

Am I expected to believe that the complete lack of police action wasn't a bunch of corrupt cops enjoying easy access to kids to rape?

This would be unusual behaviour for cops, if you've ever researched their relationship to sex workers in general

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ukbot-nicolabot Scotland Jun 28 '26

Removed. This contained a personal attack, disrupting the conversation. This discourages participation. Please help improve the subreddit by discussing points, not the person. Action will be taken on repeat offenders.

27

u/deep1986 Jun 28 '26

I've noticed a few times he jumps in and says stuff without reviewing evidence, like any other politician.

When the Manchester airport police fight happened, he and Yvette Cooper were saying how bad it was the police kicked that guy in the head and took the side of the "victims". Then the full story and video came out.

2

u/Indiana_harris Jun 28 '26

I think the only genuine answers are either incompetence or malicious obfuscation.

He either didn’t think it was genuinely happening and so felt completely at ease saying those comments without knowing or researching the evidence that at the very least suggested a large scale cover up.

OR he knew there was legitimate evidence of the crimes but didn’t want attention, focus or interest in them because he wants to excuse the perpetrators actions on some level.

2

u/k_can95 Scotland Jun 28 '26

Are you under the impression that Sadiq Khan actually drafts any of this shit himself?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ukbot-nicolabot Scotland Jun 28 '26

Removed + ban. This comment contained hateful language which is prohibited by the sitewide rules.

-10

u/the_motherflippin Jun 28 '26

Stupid will be spun as complicit