Grooming gangs row erupts on GB News as Ellie Costello furiously grills MP over ‘failure’
GB News star Ellie Costello has confronted Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake over the former government’s handling of grooming gangs, citing new polling that shows almost half of respondents believe it was a “cover-up”.
The tense exchange came as Labour prepares to announce a series of local inquiries into grooming gangs, with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper set to address the Commons.
Costello challenged Hollinrake directly about the scale of the scandal and previous investigations’ effectiveness.
“It’s horrendous, a horrendous scandal,” Hollinrake responded on GB News. “We did much, of course. We set up the grooming gangs Taskforce, we saw 550 arrests and 40 people prosecuted.”
The Conservative MP defended the Tory government’s actions whilst acknowledging more action is needed.
“We need to do more. That’s why we’ve asked for a national inquiry,” he stated.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- Yvette Cooper set to announce grooming gang inquiries as Labour backs down amid outrage
- Coventry councillor says he has ‘never heard of any reference’ to city’s grooming gangs
- Labour MP said ‘keep race out of it, you’ll lose us votes’ Labour should be ashamed – Kwasi Kwarteng
Ellie swiftly interjected, criticising the limited scope of previous investigations: “Forgive me, Kevin Hollinrake. You had a national inquiry that was so narrow in scope it only looked at six towns.”
The GB News presenter revealed the broader scale of the issue, stating: “GB News has exposed that actually 50 towns need investigating.”
She pressed the MP further, asking: “Do you admit you failed? And when you had the recommendations from that report in 2022, you did nothing to implement them?”
Hollinrake firmly rejected Costello’s accusations, stating: “That’s not true. We were implementing 18 of those 20 recommendations and that’s the reality, of course these things take time.”
The exchange comes as Labour moves to address the issue with new locally-focused investigations.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to announce government-backed local inquiries, modelled on the judge-led investigation in Telford.
The initiative will include reopening “cold cases” related to child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The new local inquiries will be led by Baroness Louise Casey with a £10 million budget, focusing on “cultural drivers” and ethnicity of the gangs.
Rotherham MP Sarah Champion has been vocal in supporting the investigations, recently tweeting: “Looks like the Government is accepting my 5 point plan to prevent child abuse and expose cover-ups over Grooming gangs.”
Champion had previously called for a nationwide “Telford-style” inquiry, stating: “Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority.”