Badenoch Warns Farage’s Grooming Gangs Plan Could Backfire

Published: 28 October 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

The growing political debate over how to handle the UK’s grooming gangs scandal intensified this week after Kemi Badenoch warned that Nigel Farage’s proposed “solution” could inadvertently derail ongoing and future trials. The Reform UK leader’s call for Parliament to assume control of the inquiry into grooming gangs has sparked concern from legal experts and politicians who say the plan could undermine the very prosecutions it seeks to secure.

Mr. Farage proposed that MPs should take over the inquiry and operate it as either a select committee or a joint parliamentary commission with the House of Lords. Speaking on Monday, the Reform leader said Parliament should “become a court,” allowing witnesses to give evidence under oath in order to identify those responsible for systemic failures and ensure justice for victims.

However, Ms. Badenoch, the Conservative leader, strongly rejected the idea during an appearance on ITV’s Peston. She argued that such an approach would create significant legal risks and potentially prejudice ongoing cases. “We have seen cases where evidence given in parliamentary select committees becomes inadmissible in court,” she said. “They could prejudice a court case, and you can’t discuss matters that are sub judice in Parliament. From what I know, that is not a workable plan. What we need is a national inquiry — I’ve been calling for this since January.”

Legal analysts have noted that while parliamentary proceedings are occasionally referenced in court, judges often refuse to admit them as evidence due to the principle of parliamentary privilege. This longstanding rule is intended to protect the independence of Parliament but can also create barriers to using parliamentary testimony in judicial proceedings.

Reform UK swiftly hit back at Badenoch’s criticism. A party spokesperson accused her of hypocrisy and political opportunism, claiming that during her tenure as women and equalities minister, she “never once mentioned the grooming gangs” issue in the House of Commons. “Quite simply, she ignored this issue, unlike Nigel Farage, who has been raising it since 2013,” the spokesman said. “The Tories and Kemi can never be trusted — they have failed the victims time and time again.”

The dispute comes amid renewed public anger over the government’s slow progress on the grooming gangs inquiry. Both Ms. Badenoch and Mr. Farage have called for a national inquiry since early this year, following widespread outrage over reports of systemic failures to protect victims. Their calls were initially dismissed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who accused critics of “jumping on a far-Right bandwagon.” However, mounting public and political pressure forced Downing Street to announce a national inquiry in June, following an independent audit led by Baroness Casey.

Despite the announcement, progress has stalled. The inquiry’s launch is expected to face further delays after both leading candidates for its chairmanship — former police officer Jim Gamble and ex-Lambeth Council director Annie Hudson — withdrew from the process last week. Their resignations left the post vacant, compounding frustrations among victims and campaigners. Adding to the turmoil, five members of the victims’ advisory panel resigned earlier this month, demanding that the inquiry be chaired by a judge — a proposal the government has rejected.

At a press conference on Monday, Mr. Farage insisted that the government’s approach had “lost all credibility.” He confirmed plans to meet Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and to write to Dame Karen Bradley, chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, urging the formation of a subcommittee to investigate the scandal. Mr. Farage likened his proposed parliamentary model to the Independent Commission on Banking, which was formed after the 2008 financial crisis and had powers to compel witnesses and take sworn testimony. “We need an inquiry that is laser-focused on the grooming gangs issue,” he said. “The current one, under Sir Keir, won’t deliver the truth victims deserve.”

Among those standing with Mr. Farage was Ellie-Ann Reynolds, one of five women who resigned from the victims’ liaison panel. She said the inquiry’s internal culture had been “gaslighting and manipulative,” adding: “We all went on to do the right thing — to seek justice, to find the truth, and not be silenced anymore. This was supposed to be about helping our future, not covering up the past.”

The controversy underscores a deepening divide over how to balance political accountability, judicial integrity, and victims’ rights in one of the UK’s most sensitive and traumatic national scandals. While both Farage and Badenoch claim to be fighting for victims, their clash reveals profound disagreements over process and power — and the future of justice for survivors remains uncertain.