Anna Turley, chair of the Labour Party, said: “The exploitation of children by grooming gangs is an appalling scandal and this Labour Government is determined to deliver justice for the survivors.

“As the Prime Minister and Home Secretary promised the survivors, the scope of the inquiry will not change. It will examine the ethnicity and religion of offenders, have full powers to compel witnesses and uncover the truth.

“While the Tories failed to act as this crisis was unfolding, and Reform shout from the sidelines, this Labour government is getting on with the job of delivering a national inquiry: putting survivors at the heart of the process and holding the institutions that failed them to account.”

In a surprising move, grooming gang survivor Ellie Reynolds – who issued damning comments about the government’s inquiry at Reform’s press conference – asked Mr Farage if she could also respond to the repeated questions about Sarah Pochin.

Appearing surprised, Mr Farage handed the floor to Ms Reynolds, who launched into a blistering tirade.

She blasted: “I find it quite overwhelming that every single one of these journalists has said something about a comment that was made by Sarah [Pochin], which is understandable, absolutely fine.

“Yet it’s taken the media decades to recognise that grooming gangs are coming over and raping our children because they’re white – that is also racially motivated and it is racist.

Mr Farage appeared stunned by the full-throated attack, quietly adding: “100%. Gosh, that’s very strong. Very strong.”

Farage contrasts Sarah Pochin’s badly worded comments at the weekend with “genuine racism” on full display in Tower Hamlets at the weekend.

“No one’s asked a question about that until [a sun journalist]. None of the broadcasters are interested in that I doubt they’ll show the pictures.

“Outright intimidation to the point of basically urging the mass wipe out of huge numbers of Jewish people. I have to say I thought the scenes of those men – in many cases masks on – women brushed aside… I actually think it’s one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen in my whole life.

“And what a telling moment, the leftist Stand Up To Racism were there with their banners and one says to one of these masked marchers ‘we’re on the same side’, to which the response comes ‘no we’re not’.

“Maybe one day the deluded left will wake up to realise they’ve been with very strange bedfellows, organisations like Queers For Palestine spring to mind.

“I thought the scenes were absolutely terrifying. It was like a foreign invading army marching through our streets and defy anyone in this room to tell me I am wrong, I really genuinely do.”

Asked by Express reporter Katie Harris if Sadiq Khan has failed survivors of grooming gangs in London, a furious Farage instantly replies: “Yes, he’s been denying that there’s grooming going on in London!”

“The Met Police have been denying that 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.

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

“Maybe London is the last great grooming gang scandal to be uncovered and it looks like we’re very close to doing that.”

Asked about a report out this morning into the enormous Home Office incompetence that has squandered billions unnecessarily on migrant hotels, Mr Farage says the whole industry has become an ‘absolute racket’.

“Of course there are certain companies that have made massive profits – just look at the share price of one or two of them – to see what an absolute racket the whole thing has been.

“Why doesn’t the British government get a grip? We were told over 20 years ago that the Home Office wasn’t fit for purpose. Perhaps it’s time somebody in government had the guts to deal with it.”

He says there are migrant hotel tenders currently out until 2036 at least, which shows the government has no intention of putting a stop to illegal immigration.

Issuing his first comments on the Sarah Pochin row that broke at the weekend, Mr Farage says he has made his unhappiness at her over the comments known.

“The words Sarah Pochin used… were ugly, and taken on their own could be read to be very very unpleasant indeed.

“I am unhappy with what she has done – don’t underestimate that – and she fully knows how I feel.

“However it was in the broader context of DEI madness in the advertising industry, something which anybody with half a brain can recognise has been going on since about 2021. So I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and ugly.

“If I thought the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have to date.”

Farage says the public and survivors are running out of patience with the government’s inquiry.

He says that he doesn’t believe Parliament should be frequently running court-like services and inquiries, but occaisionally it should such as in this instance.

Farage says his proposed sollution has a number of advantages.

1. It can be done very quickly

2. It will take place in what we still know as the mother of parliaments, and perhaps reestablish some trust in the institution

3. It will happen in the full glare of media

4. It won’t take years to conclude

5. It will have the power to put in the Palace of Westminster those that are suspected of colluding in the cover-up of one of the most shameful stories in the history of our islands.

He says he wants other public figures to emerge and support the plan

Nigel Farage and the other Reform MPs are set to meet with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle this evening, where he will put the points below to him.

“I know he himself is very keen to reestablish parliament at the centre of our national debate in this country.”

And will call for the Home Affairs committee to set up a sub committee asap, broaden it to a commission including peers.

Nigel Farage says he is today proposing a “better, quicker, more open and more transparent solution.”

He says he wants to offer parliament a chance to reestablish itself in the minds of voters as a good and fair institution.

“It’s time for parliament to step up and do its job.”

He says MPs don’t realise just how much power parliament, and select committees have.

Select committees have the power to summon anyone they like, including former MPs for the constituencies the grooming gangs operated in – “I find it hard to believe that MPs in all of these constituencies would not have had letters or emails or pointers as to what was going on.”

Parliament also has the power to sanction those who refuse to appear, and force them to swear an oath which would see liars facing prosecution for perjury.

He says it’s an “enormous opportunity” for parliament and this government to restore some public trust in the institution and politicians.

Farage says the five women on the grooming gang panel who wrote to Starmer backing Jess Philips last week were not victims of grooming gangs, but victims of other forms of sexual assault.

He says it was a deliberate attempt from the start to widen the scope of the inquiry.

He insists he’s not “demeaning in any way what Samantha Walker and the other four have been through. I’m just pointing out they were victims of a very different kind of sexual abuse.

“And what the country the demands, and what people like Ellie demand, is a lazer focus on this very very unique and perhaps difficult to understand phenomenon that has been going on in the country for decades.”

He accuses the government of trying to kick the can down the road so it concludes nothing before the next general election.

Farage says the inquiry is “dead in the water”.

“Nearly 5 months have gone by and what has happened? Nothing. They can’t even agree who the chair is going to be.”

“The way [Jess Philips] conducted herself was absolutely appalling…

“I do not think she is capable, which is why I’ve called for her to stand down.”

She adds that the inquiry was “corrupt”

Ellie Reynolds blasts Labour’s attempts to widen the scope of the inquiry beyond ethnic minority grooming gangs, arguing it was “down to the fact they don’t want to vocalise the ethnicity of these men”.

She says she and other survivors were made to feel like they couldn’t talk about the ethnicity of their abusers.

“It felt like we were being stripped of our voices. We’re not going to be stripped of our voices any more.”

Ellie Reynolds, who quit the inquiry last week, says the probe was a “mess from the start”.

She accuses the government of running a “very controlling atmosphere, it was very gaslighting, very manipulative.”

Brands it a “shambles”.

“The way we were spoken to was very degrading, very controlling. We weren’t allowed to seek support from family members or other survivors on the panel.”

Nigel Farage says the government’s inquiry “is flawed” and “will not work”.

He says Reform is offering a “better solution”.

He hands over to Ellie Reynolds who quit the inquiry last week

Farage says the grooming gang scandal is a “stain on our country” and possibly one of the “worst things to have ever happened”.

He claims there is “strong evidence that it’s still continuing, and much of it within a few miles of where I’m speaking to you now.”

He attacks Kemi Badenoch for failing to raise the scandal as women’s minister at all when she was in government.

He says Labour has no “serious desire for any police inquiry to go ahead”.

Nigel Farage says the grooming gang scandal is fundamentally different to other child abuse cases, in which the perpetrator is almost always close to the victim – a trusted person or family member.

He says the grooming gang scandal, by contrast, was the “mass industrial scale sexual assault and rape by anonymous unknown persons, and it’s been going on in this country on a scale that is simply unimaginable.”

He says there’s a huge racial and ethnic dimension to it. “A large part of these crimes can be attributed to racism in its absolute worst form.”

He accuses the establishment of meeting the scandal with “abject cowardace, and wilful neglect”

Nigel Farage is about to speak, and is to be joined by a grooming gang survivor who quit the government inquiry last week.

Reform has confirmed Ellie Reynolds will be joining him on stage.

I’m at Reform UK’s press conference in central London where Nigel Farage is due to speak at 2pm.

The Reform leader has said he will offer “a solution” to the grooming gangs inquiry.

Sir Keir Starmer accused Reform MP Sarah Pochin of “shocking racism” after she said “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”.

The Prime Minister told the BBC: “It’s shocking racism and it’s the sort of thing that’ll tear our country apart. And tells you everything about Reform.

“And Nigel Farage has some questions to ask. Either he doesn’t consider it racist which I think is shocking in itself or he does think it is and shows absolutely no leadership.”

Downing Street said there are “no plans” to break up the Home Office.

Asked what the Government’s response was to calls for the department to be split up, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have no plans to break up the Home Office.

“What we’re focused on is building on the improvements we’ve already made by rewiring the department so it secures our borders, makes our streets safer and to protect our national security.”

Labour has written to Nigel Farage demanding he “urgently clarify” whether he endorses remarks made by Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin and calling on him to remove the party whip from the MP.

Ms Pochin had said “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people” before apologising and saying her comments were “phrased poorly”.

Labour chairwoman Anna Turley wrote: “At the time of writing you have made no public comment about Sarah Pochin’s remarks, which is uncharacteristically reticent of you.

“I am writing to you to urgently clarity Reform’s official position.”

She asked: “Do you endorse Sarah Pochin’s comments? And can you confirm if her views on race are welcome in Reform UK?

“Will you withdraw the Reform UK whip from Sarah Pochin?

“Sarah Pochin’s comments were a disgrace. And your silence is deafening.”

Asked if the Prime Minister has confidence in Sadiq Khan over grooming gangs in London, his official spokesman said: “First and foremost, the Prime Minister recognises the issue that Baroness Casey identified in the audit earlier in the year

As she said, there has been a mismatch in the way the Metropolitan Police and local authorities record child abuse and that needed to be looked at.

“And we welcome that the Met is again looking at historic cases. The statement also said the Mayor would hold the men to account to ensure the force does everything to tackle child exploitation.

“And I point you back to the statement that the Mayor of London has issued, reiterating that no stone must be left unturned in pursuing justice for the victims of grooming gangs and ensuring that the violent circumstances are brought to justice.”

Pressed on whether he has confidence in the London Mayor, the spokesman added: “The PM, of course, has confidence in the Mayor of London. In terms of the specifics on this issue in London, that is very much a question for the Mayor.”

It comes as the Met Police is to review 9,000 child sexual exploitation cases in the capital.

Two suspended Reform UK councillors have now been expelled from the party via email, a spokesperson has confirmed.

Kent County Councillors Bill Barrett and Robert Ford have been kicked out by email from Reform HQ which said they had “undermined” the interests of the party and brought it into “disrepute”.

Their removal comes after a leaked video of a Reform meeting saw council leader Linden Kemkaran telling members to “f****** suck it up” when they disagreed on big decisions.

After warnings by supermarket bosses, UKHospitality and the British Retail Consortium have united to call on the Government to exempt hospitality and retail outlets from a planned business rates surcharge, which would see 5,000 high street properties over £500,000 rateable value affected by a higher tax rate.

The trade bodies believe 500 premises would be put at risk of closure, if the surcharge was applied.

These properties employ approximately 120,000 people and these jobs would be impacted by any closures.

Tax and spending changes are being considered ahead of next month’s Budget, Rachel Reeves has said.

Speaking at Fortune Magazine’s global forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Chancellor was asked if she was considering tax rises in the Budget.

“The underpinning for economic growth is stability and I’m not going to break the fiscal rules that we’ve set,” she replied.

“We are going to reduce that primary deficit, we are going to see debt starting to fall as a share of GDP, because we need more sustainable public finances, especially in the uncertain world in which we live today.

“So, growth will be a big part of that Budget story, in a way that, frankly, I think growth has been neglected as a tool of fiscal policy in the last few years.

“We are looking, of course, at tax and spending to ensure that we both have resilience against future shocks by ensuring we’ve got sufficient headroom, and also just ensuring that those fiscal rules are adhered to.”

Steve Reed has said the use of hotels to house asylum seekers will be eliminated “within the lifetime” of the Labour Government.

The Housing and Communities Secretary, speaking to Sky News on Monday, was asked about a recent report by MPs which found the expected cost of the Home Office’s asylum accommodation contracts for the 10 years between 2019 and 2029 has more than tripled from £4.5 billion to £15.3 billion.

“Those contracts you’re talking about today were, of course, put in place by the previous government,” Mr Reed said.

“We have inherited them, but we’ve put in place already additional case workers to deal with the number of asylum seekers.

“We can get them through more quickly – the number of hotels in use is now half what it was at the peak.

“We need to eliminate it entirely and we’ll do that within the lifetime of this Government, but we want to do it as quickly as possible.”

Mr Reed said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been involved in talks to find alternative housing solutions for asylum seekers – including disused military bases.

“Shabana, the Home Secretary, I know has been involved in conversations about how you can look at using disused military bases, for instance, instead of hotels to accommodate people far more cheaply,” Mr Reed said.

“But it takes time to get your hands on those sites, construct the accommodation and then move people into it.”

Steve Reed has said the criminal justice system needs to be “rebuilt from the bottom up” after a migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was mistakenly released from prison.

Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was jailed for 12 months in September for the offence and was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.

Speaking to Sky News on Monday, the Housing and Communities Secretary said the debacle was a sign of a “broken” justice system.

“This individual had no right to be in the country in the first place, let alone committing the kind of offences that he committed,” Mr Reed told Sky News.

“I’m sure everybody else watching was just as shocked when they saw this individual had been released accidentally.

“It wasn’t that he made an escape bid: he was released in a way that should not have happened.

“Now, that is a sign, isn’t it, of a broken criminal justice system.”But we know that, because when we were elected, the prisons were full up. There wasn’t room to house people who have got custodial sentences in the courts.

“One third of professional staff in the criminal justice system have been got rid of under the previous government.”We’re having to rebuild it from the bottom up.”

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said he had yet to see detail of extra checks that prison governors have been ordered to undertake when inmates are freed following the mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I haven’t actually seen the checklist itself.

“I can absolutely understand that ministers are furious about this case and want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Is it proportionate? Well, we’ll have to look at the checklist over the course of this week.”

He added that changes to visa rules coming into force in the new year will have an “enormously damaging” effect to prison staffing levels.

He said: “There are a large number of west African prison officers, on which many prisoners are reliant, who are in danger of having their visas revoked because of changes in the policy in the Home Office and that is going to have an enormously damaging effect to some prisons.

“There are a number of prisons that are going to lose so many officers that they’re going to be very difficult to run.”

The migrant who re-entered Britain after being sent back to France will be deported this week, a Cabinet minister has said.

Asked whether the man had left the UK yet, Communities Secretary Steve Reed told Times Radio: “He’s being deported this week.

“I’m glad you raised that, because it shows the system is working. He was deported, he’s come back, he’s wasted his money, and he’ll be deported again.”

Mr Reed said there had been no change in policy that led to a 128% increase in the number of incorrect prison releases since last year.

The Communities Secretary told Times Radio: “There’s no change in policy that has led to that. The facts are we’ve got a broken criminal justice system, and because of that you see the effects.

“If the previous government cut the number of staff by a third, if they fail to build the prison places, I’m afraid then disasters will happen.”

Steve Reed said he shares the “frustration and fury” of the family of a girl who was sexually assaulted by Hadush Kebatu after his mistaken release from prison.

The Communities Secretary said he did not know whether anyone from Government had spoken to the family.

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken with the family, Mr Reed told Times Radio: “I don’t know the answer to that, but I completely share their frustration and fury at what’s happened.

“My jaw was on the floor like everyone else’s when I heard that he had been released in the way that he had been. He shouldn’t even be our country, let alone committing the kind of acts that he carried out.

“Now I want to pay tribute to the police who have apprehended him, thank goodness, very, very quickly, and the public whose vigilance helped to tip off the police where to identify him.

“And people should be reassured that he will now be deported this week, but it’s very worrying that this individual was released, apparently by accident, and he’s not the only one, so the Ministry of Justice has ordered the full investigation there.

“(An) officer has been suspended, and David Lammy, who’s the Justice Secretary, will be announcing a strengthened series of checks in Parliament later today to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Asked whether anyone from Government had, he said he did not know. “The facts are, we inherited a completely broken justice system, and we’re working at pace to fix it.”