Petition for Sadiq Khan to resign over 'grooming gangs denial' to be presented at City Hall

Mr Price is then expected to present the petition to City Hall.

According to the group, it intends to bring "urgent attention" to grooming gangs in the capital and highlight Sir Sadiq's "refusal" to launch an inquiry into the issue.

In January 2025, the London Mayor was asked on nine occasions if there were rape gangs operating, either presently or historically, in London.

He insisted he was "not clear" what the question meant and, following clarification on the question with specific reference to the rape gangs in Rotherham and Bradford, Sir Sadiq claimed he was "none the wiser".

Sir Sadiq also last year said there was no "indication of (…) grooming gangs" operating comparably to that of Rochdale or Rotherham in the capital.

"The Mayor has repeatedly said on record that there are grooming gangs in London," a spokesman for the Labour Mayor has since said.

Speaking to GB News in October, former Met Police officer and whistleblower Jon Wedger said he was "beyond redemption" over grooming gangs in London.

Mr Wedger said he was told to drop investigations into 50 cases of child abuse or he would "lose his home, job and children", as what he had exposed would "f*** the Metropolitan Police".

Last month, an investigation by the BBC uncovered that young girls had been forced into grooming gangs in London despite the Mayor's initial rejections of the claims.

Detective Sergeant John Knox, the head of the Met Police's child exploitation team in the south London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, said girls and young women were the "lowest rung" in gangs.

Baroness Casey's report on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse across Britain identified discrepancies in the way the Met Police recorded child abuse cases.

CitizenGO UK campaigner Zuzana Revayova hit out at Sir Sadiq's "leadership on this issue, or rather the lack of it", accusing him of presiding over a "catastrophic failure".

She said: "While the Mayor focuses on divisive ideological agendas, the safety of London’s most vulnerable children is being compromised.

"The tens of thousands of people who signed this petition are demanding accountability and real action."

A spokesman for Sir Sadiq has previously said: "The Mayor has always been clear that the safety of Londoners is his top priority and nowhere is this truer than in safeguarding children.

"Sadiq is committed to doing all he can to protect children in London from organised criminal and sexual exploitation and bring perpetrators to justice.

"This includes his £15.6million Violence and Exploitation Support Service, which provides specialist support to young Londoners who are vulnerable, caught up in or being exploited by criminal gangs in the capital as well as supporting the Met to deliver a new child-first approach to safeguarding and enforcement action to tackle county lines.

"We remain vigilant to emerging and changing threats and will continue to do everything we can to protect children in the capital from abuse, violence and exploitation in all its forms."

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