I've seen London grooming gang evidence - Sadiq Khan must resign now

Sadiq Khan likes to present himself as a leading voice in the fight to end violence against women and girls.

So it is strange that he is so evasive when it comes to grooming gangs. Time and again he's been asked in the London Assembly to comment on whether the capital city has suffered the same type of systematic trafficking of girls as has occurred in towns like Rochdale or Rotherham.

But each time he finds a way to slither out of it. In fact, the capital's mayor refuses to even say the phrase "grooming gangs."

The question is why? Why would a man who spends hundreds of thousands of pounds on ads telling men to say "Maaate" to misogynists be so testy about grooming gangs?

Every time the mayor is asked about grooming gangs he deflects and starts talking about kids in London being exploited by drug gangs.

His position seems to be that London has somehow not been blighted by scandals like those that rocked the towns of Northern England, and it is better, therefore, to focus resources on children being groomed to sell narcotics.

In fact, he's gone so far as to suggest that anyone who levels accusations about his city having grooming gang problem is making a "false", "malicious" or "politically motivated attack."

While it might be possible to level such an allegation at his political opponents in City Hall, I find it utterly baffling that he'd accuse a former Met police detective of lying.

But that's what he did when I approached him with John Wedger's story.

Wedger is a retired officer turned whistleblower who is simply calling for a proper investigation into the huge number of grooming gang victims he identified while working as a Metropolitan Police officer.

He showed me his police notebook from the time, reports he prepared for other agencies and a raft of evidence submitted to the 2022 inquiry into child sex abuse. As information goes, it's hard to find anything so solid.

But instead of listening, Khan is dismissing his claims outright. It's petty, disgusting and should see him removed from office because by calling these stories "false" he's also calling the victims liars - and that should never stand.

The mayor also needs to understand is that these scare tactics won't work.

He won't silence survivors by pretending the crimes against them didn't take place. Their voices are going to be heard and at the Express we will do everything to make sure they are.

I'm already speaking to survivors who are disgusted by the mayor's behavior, and I have no doubt that number will grow.

So if you have a story that Mr Khan needs to listen to, please get in touch.

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