Nigel Farage demands rape gangs answers after warning of Casey report ‘cover-up’

The report, released yesterday, already admitted the Establishment had been in “denial” about the ethnic element to the grooming gangs scandal.

Casey, who confirmed perpetrators were “disproportionately” Pakistani men, wrote: “Flawed data is used repeatedly to dismiss claims about 'Asian grooming gangs' as sensationalised, biased or untrue.

"This does a disservice to victims and indeed all law-abiding people in Asian communities and plays into the hands of those who want to exploit it to sow division."

However, Farage pointed to page 52 of the report which discusses “other non-police sources of data”.

The sentence, cited by Farage, said: “We also sought data from the Department for Health & Social Care and the Government of Wales on how many cases of child sexual abuse or exploitation they see in health services but have only been able to obtain data from Sexual Assault Referral Centres (England).”

Specifically highlighting the Welsh Government’s decision not to provide the relevant data, the Reform UK leader said: “Has the cover up already begun? This deserves answers.”

• Baroness Casey says she is 'angry' that ethnicity data has not been collected for grooming gangs
• Tory MP demands 'convictions must follow' inquiries into local authorities and police forces
• Rupert Lowe calls for 'American judge' to rule on grooming gangs national inquiry

Farage, who visited Wales earlier this month to pre-emptively launch Reform UK's 2026 Welsh Elections campaign, is optimistic about defeating Labour and Plaid Cymru to top the poll next May.

Following the release of the Casey report yesterday, a Welsh grooming gangs survivor called on Cardiff Bay to launch a Wales-specific inquiry.

The survivor, known by the pseudonym Emily Vaughn, said Wales needs to "wake up" to the fact that abuse does not stop on the border with England.

In a statement, she said: "It is time for Wales to wake up to the truth that grooming, sexual exploitation and organised abuse do not stop at regional borders.

"Survivors in Wales have long been silenced, overlooked, or forced to seek justice through systems not built with their experiences in mind.

"While inquiries have been launched in England and other parts of the UK, the specific cultural, institutional, and social factors unique to Wales have yet to be properly investigated or addressed.

"There needs to be an independent public inquiry into grooming gangs and systemic sexual exploitation in Wales."

A YouGov poll conducted yesterday 78 per cent of Welsh people strongly support a rape gangs inquiry, putting the principality 10-points clear of the national average.

However, Cardiff Bay rejected Tory calls for a Wales-specific rape gangs inquiry in January.

During the fiery debate, the Senedd erupted after Welsh Tory leader Darren Millar said that young girls had been "recruited by grooming gangs here in south Wales" before being "gang- raped” and then “trafficked to Telford, Hereford and Blackpool".

He said: “One victim [Vaughn] has even said that she was strangled she was threatened with a knife and her home was threatened with being burned down.

“She was raped, I’m afraid to say First Minister, 1000 times. She didn’t know the number of perpetrators.”

Millar clashed with Elin Jones after being interrupted, leading Vaughn to accuse the Presiding Officer of "downplaying" her experience.

The previous Alexis Jay inquiry revealed disturbing evidence of organised networks and gangs abusing children in Swansea.

GB News's 2023 grooming gangs documentary Britain's Shame revealed Vaughn's horrific experience with her predominantly Pakistani abusers from her local kebab shop in South Wales.

She told the People's Channel: "We were trafficked to Telford, Hereford and Blackpool. I was 14 and 15 in this period when I was raped and trafficked regularly."

Vaughn, who was raped over a thousand times, added: "While my abusers threatened, raped and violated me, they were also kind.

"But it changed, they called us gori girls, white b******s, white s***s."

However, Swansea was the only Welsh city cited in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Welsh Government said: “We welcome the Prime Minister’s decision to launch a National Statutory Inquiry into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse across England and Wales, following Baroness Casey’s audit.

"We will consider its recommendations in full to inform our actions.

“Our ten-year Strategy for Preventing and Responding to Child Sexual Abuse is due out for public consultation shortly.

"There are four strands to the strategy which are prevention, protection, supporting children and young people and their families, and supporting adult survivors.”