Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers has called for politicians to do "whatever it takes" to force the Government to launch a national inquiry into rape gangs.Speaking to GB News, the Conservative MP emphasised the scale of the issue, noting that "more than 50 towns" have been affected across the country.FULL STORY HERE.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, let's head straight to Westminster, shall we? We're joined by Shadow Home Office Minister Matt Vickers this morning.
00:05Good to see you this morning, Mr Vickers. And can I start by asking you about the rape gangs?
00:09Good morning, the sun's shining.
00:11I'm glad it's shining. It's set to be good this week.
00:14Let's talk about the rape gangs, shall we?
00:16Because the Labour peer, Maurice Glasman, has joined forces with Nigel Farage to back a parliamentary bill
00:23that calls for a statutory inquiry into the abuse gang scandal.
00:27Now, GB News understands that there's Labour backing for this as well, but only privately so far.
00:32They haven't come forward to support it publicly.
00:34Are you, the Tory party, prepared to work with reform and Nigel Farage on this issue?
00:42Well, you can talk about those five MPs, but what I'll talk about is the issue.
00:46This is a huge issue across the country. We've heard more than 50 towns affected.
00:49We need to do whatever it takes to drag the government to having that national inquiry
00:53so that these victims can get justice, so that those people responsible for these things are held to account,
00:59but also so that anybody who's found to have covered it up, we know there is evidence out there
01:03that people covered this up, yet not one of those people has been convicted for doing so.
01:07We need national inquiry and we need one now.
01:09Can I ask you about this rap group, Kneecap, who have emerged in a video, November 2023,
01:18where one of the band members appears to say,
01:21the only good Tory is a dead Tory, kill your local MP.
01:26And there's another video that the Metropolitan Police are currently looking at,
01:29where it appears to show a band member shouting,
01:32up Hamas, up Hezbollah.
01:35That was a performance in London.
01:36Now, the band have apologised, it must be said, but they have received funding from the UK government,
01:43£14,000 from an arts fund, and they're also scheduled to perform at Glastonbury this summer.
01:49Should they be dropped from Glastonbury and should they lose that arts fund?
01:55They most definitely should.
01:57There is no place for this sort of stuff in Britain, for those sort of threats.
02:01Yesterday we sat in the chamber, we saw the two plaques on the wall,
02:04the plaque of Sir David Amos, an incredible parliamentarian whose life was cut short,
02:08he was stolen from us.
02:09We saw Joe Cox and what happened there, horrendous situation,
02:12two incredible parliamentarians who had a lot to give.
02:15This is a threat to individuals, but it's also a threat to our democracy
02:18and our ability to have debates, have discussions and argue the case
02:22for what needs to happen in Britain going forwards.
02:24It can't be allowed to go on.
02:25Glastonbury should ditch them, and that money should be returned to the taxpayer.
02:28Can I talk to you about pensions, please, and the triple lock?
02:34Because we heard from Kemi Badenoch yesterday saying that there's currently,
02:39as of now, no change on the triple lock.
02:44Does that mean then the door is open to means testing in the future of the state pension?
02:49You should judge us by what we do.
02:54Actually, we protected that winter fuel payment for pensioners across the country
02:57while the Labour Party trashed it.
02:58They stole it from people without notice.
03:01Every week I speak to people in my surgeries who are struggling to make ends meet,
03:05usually single people, usually widows, people on one income, on a fixed income,
03:08struggling to get by, who had that £300 stolen from them.
03:12The triple lock was a hugely beneficial thing to many pensioners.
03:15We brought it in, we protected it, and we continue to fight the corner for it
03:19as we march forwards.
03:21Yesterday, small boat crossings passed 10,000,
03:24the earliest point in the year since records began.
03:28How do you think this has got so out of control?
03:31I mean, the government, we were speaking to them yesterday,
03:34blamed the dire inheritance that was left by you.
03:39That is rubbish.
03:40When you look at where we were at, the numbers were coming down.
03:42The number of people arriving was coming down.
03:44The number of people who were arriving in small boat and being removed was going up.
03:48We were reducing the number of people staying in hotels.
03:50Under this government, in the last nine months,
03:52we've got a record number of arrivals.
03:55We've got more than 30% more people arriving.
03:58We've got more people staying in hotels, 28% more in hotels,
04:028,500 more people in hotels.
04:04And of those people who are arriving here illegally,
04:07less of them are being removed than were being removed before the election.
04:11It's a recipe for disaster.
04:13But we've had a bill in there to look at what the future of border security in this country looks like.
04:17They're removing all the deterrents that were put in place.
04:19They're allowing people who arrive here illegally to become British citizens.
04:23What sort of message does that send to people across the globe
04:26who might want to come here illegally, break into our country?
04:30It's completely wrong.
04:31It's balmy.
04:31But we knew what was going to happen before the election when this lot got in charge.
04:36Thank you for your comments, Matt Vickers.
04:38We're taking them board.
04:39People will have their say on them throughout the programme today.
04:42We say goodbye to you.
04:43Appreciate your time.