Sadiq Khan is failing rape gang victims in the last “great grooming scandal to be uncovered”, Nigel Farage told the Daily Express.

The Reform UK leader said there is evidence of vile perverts operating in the capital today.

And he said, following an investigation by the Express and MyLondon, that “it looks like we are very close” to exposing the scale of the crimes committed in London.

Asked if Sir Sadiq should resign, Mr Farage told the Daily Express: “Yes, he’s been denying that there’s been grooming going on in London.

“The police, the Met have been denying grooming is going on in London.

“I can tell you today, somebody in this room has spoken to social services in London who openly said there are grooming gangs in London.

“It’s more difficult to spot a particular type of grooming gang in central London than it is in Rotherham just by the sheer size of the city, the different communities, in this city.

“Yes, maybe, Maggie Oliver made this point, maybe London is the last great grooming scandal to be uncovered.

“It looks like we are very close.”

It comes after Scotland Yard confirmed it will review of 9,000 child sexual exploitation cases.

The cases, covering a 15-year period, will be examined by the force following Baroness Louise Casey’s probe into the grooming grooming gangs scandal.

Mr Farage, calling for a Parliamentary Commission into the grooming gangs scandal, said he wanted to call for a “better, quicker, more transparent and more open” solution.

He said: “What I want to do is to offer Parliament a chance to re-establish itself in the minds of people as a good, fair and just institution. It’s time for Parliament to step up and to do its job.

“Do you remember back in 2009 when Sir Fred Goodwin was ordered to open before the banking commission? A new committee that had been set up between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and Goodwin had to go to appear.

“And I just don’t think we realise just how much power Parliament actually has if it chooses to use it. Select committees have the power to summon anybody, they could summon a former social worker, they could summon a former police officer, they could summon a former councillor, they could summon a former member of Parliament.”

He added: “It also has the ability to sanction those if anybody refuses to appear. It also has the power to require that people swear an oath. And the important thing about swearing an oath is if what you say in that forum is deliberately misleading or untrue, then of course you could prosecution for perjury…

“I am saying here is the most enormous opportunity for Parliament and indeed for this Government to restore some public trust in the institution and those that currently inhabit it on an issue that has been gnawing away at our public consciences for just over a decade. I will be with my colleagues meeting the Speaker this evening, I will be putting these points to him.”

The Reform leader added: “I will tomorrow write to Dame Karen Bradley, the chairman of the home affairs committee, to suggest a subcommittee is set up. And yes, let’s broaden it to a commission, and let’s get those from the House of Lords who understand this subject involved as well.”

Mr Farage told a press conference in Westminster that he wants the national inquiry to focus on Pakistani grooming gangs.

He said: “The Government have quite deliberately widened the scope out from the victims of those who were victims of Pakistani grooming gangs and brought in other women, and by the way I am not demeaning or diminishing in any way the treatment that Samantha Walker and the other four have been through.

“I’m just pointing out they were victims, survivors now, of a very different kind of sexual abuse. And what the country demands and indeed what people like Ellie demand is a laser focus on this very, very unique and perhaps for many people difficult to understand phenomenon that has now been going on in our country for decades.

“My own view is the Government would like to simply kick the can down the road, to hold a public inquiry that goes on for such a long time that it reports nothing before the next general election. You don’t believe me? Well, have a look at the Covid inquiry.”

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said “many” of the approximately 9,000 cases did not fit the common understanding of grooming gang offending.

These include cases within families, peer-on-peer abuse and exploitation within institutional settings.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Any sexual offending against children is abhorrent but group-based offending, often characterised as ‘grooming gangs’, is particularly insidious and devastating in its profound impact on the children affected.

“The Met takes all allegations or concerns about child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation incredibly seriously and always investigates, following the evidence without fear or favour.”

They said there had been “significant improvements” to how the force identifies and investigates group-based offending since 2022.

These include training for 11,000 frontline officers and an expansion of child exploitation teams.

In the past year, the Met said it had solved three times more cases of child sexual exploitation and charged 134 more suspects.

The spokesperson added: “As part of the national reinvestigation into group-based child sexual exploitation recommended by Baroness Casey, we are currently undertaking a review of approximately 9,000 cases covering a 15-year period.

“In line with the IICSA definition, these include many cases of such as intra-familial, peer-on-peer and in institutional settings, along with those which do not fit the common understanding of a ‘grooming gang’.

“Our commitment to safeguarding all victims of such terrible offences and bringing those responsible to justice is absolute.”