Sadiq Khan has been blasted as “not fit for office” after a BBC investigation has uncovered evidence that vulnerable young women and girls, are being drawn into sexual exploitation by gangs operating across London.
Survivors told investigators they had been subjected to rape by multiple men as a form of “payment” for drug debts accumulated by the criminal groups controlling them. Others described being groomed specifically for sexual purposes.
The findings emerged from weeks of interviews with dozens of individuals in the capital, including five women who survived gang-related violence.
Beyond sexual exploitation, the investigation revealed how groups of men entice girls into drug dealing, weapons trafficking and phone theft.
A Metropolitan Police officer described young females as occupying the “lowest rung” within gang hierarchies, groomed and exploited “for everything”.
Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives in London City Hall, expressed horror at the revelations, telling GB News: “I am horrified by the disturbing reports of teens being exploited by gangs for sex, which up until recently has been ignored by the authorities.”
Mrs Hall said conversations with survivors had revealed similar accounts, adding: “It breaks my heart to think about what those young girls and boys have been through.”
“The Mayor and authorities across London have serious questions to answer about what they know…We must see action to tackle this evil.”
Head of Reform UK London Laila Cunningham told GB News: “What this BBC investigation lays bare is horrific. Girls as young as 13 being passed between men, drugged, raped, and treated as ‘the lowest rung.’ That was happening in London while Sadiq Khan told us repeatedly it wasn’t.
“I always knew this was happening. I knew it from reading the transcripts of girls abused outside London in places such as Oxford. There was never any credible reason to believe London was somehow different.
“But Londoners were told grooming gangs of that type did not exist here. The Mayor said there was ‘no indication’. The Police and Crime Commissioner repeated it. Now, after public pressure, the Commissioner admits he is reviewing thousands of cases and says this has ‘always been a problem’.
The London Mayor has been slammed over the scandal
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“That raises a serious question: if it was always a problem, why were we told it didn’t exist? Who decided denial was safer than protecting girls? As Mayor, my mission will be absolute.
“I will never overlook the sexual exploitation of girls in London. I will root out the abusers, dismantle the gangs, and expose everyone who denied, minimised or covered this up.
“I am putting the system on notice: in this city, children come before politics, reputations and institutional self-protection.”
Former Metropolitan Police detective Peter Bleksley delivered a scathing assessment of the Mayor’s position on the issue.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Bleksley criticised police leadership for failing to record offender identities, calling it “outrageous” and “cowardly”.
He argued the situation had created a “confused landscape” where only victim testimony could be relied upon regarding perpetrator backgrounds, adding: “The ethnicity should always be recorded for every crime. End of story.”
Susan Hall slammed Sadiq Khan
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Mr Bleksley continued: “This clearly shows Sadiq Khan was either lying when he said there were no rape gangs in London, or he was ignorant of the facts.
“Either way it fundamentally proves without all doubt that Sadiq Khan is not fit for high office of any description.”
Survivor accounts paint a harrowing picture of the abuse taking place in the capital.
One woman, given the pseudonym Milly, described being “passed around different men every night” at age 15, sometimes encountering 10 to 15 men monthly.
“They just give us drink, give us drugs. Next thing I know, I’d just be in the bedroom with one of them,” she told the BBC.
The Mayor’s Office has been called into question over the investigation
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GETTYDetective Sergeant John Knox, who leads the Met’s child exploitation team in Lambeth and Southwark, confirmed that girls within gang structures “cannot say no to sex”.
“Within that gang world, the girls are at the lowest rung and they have to do as they’re told. And that includes sexually,” DS Knox explained.
He estimates at least 60 children in his south London area are currently being exploited by gangs, with victims as young as 13.
A spokesman for the Mayor responded to the findings, stating that any individuals or groups exploiting children for sex are “utterly abhorrent” and that Khan “wants justice for every single victim of these horrific crimes”.
Grooming gangs rank ‘very high’ on the force’s ‘threat and risk radar’, according to a senior Scotland Yard figure
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PAThe spokesman added that the Mayor expects the Met to “follow the evidence wherever it leads” and will ensure the force does “everything possible to tackle all child sexual exploitation in the capital, including grooming gangs”.
Met deputy assistant commissioner Kevin Southworth confirmed that grooming gangs rank “very high” on the force’s “threat and risk radar”.
“We are very, very acutely aware of the risk of grooming gangs here in London and their prevalence,” Mr Southworth said.
He added that the Met had witnessed examples of gangs grooming children for both criminal and sexual exploitation.