Nigel Farage labels grooming gangs inquiry 'dead in the water' and calls for Parliament to set up its own investigation

The Reform UK leader urged Labour to "step up" and launch its own probe into the grooming gangs scandal.

Mr Farage made the comments during a press conference in Westminster alongside Ellie-Ann Reynolds, who last week resigned from the inquiry's survivors panel.

Ms Reynolds said she had encountered a "very controlling atmosphere" before she stepped down.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Farage said he planned to meet with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Monday evening to propose Parliament use its "extraordinary powers" to investigate the scandal.

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He also said he would write to Dame Karen Bradley, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, to propose that a subcommittee be set up quickly to investigate the scandal.

The planned national inquiry is no longer "laser focused on the grooming gangs issue," according to Mr Farage.

He said: "I am saying, here is the most enormous opportunity for Parliament, and indeed for this Government, to restore some public trust in the institution and those that currently inhabit it on an issue that has been gnawing away at our public consciences for well over a decade."

Ms Reynolds stood down last week, days before the two remaining candidates to chair the probe also walked away.

She told the press conference: "It was very gaslighting and very manipulative.

"We all went on to do the right thing, and that was to seek justice, that was to find the truth, to not be silenced anymore, and to be able to help our future."

The way victims were spoken to was "very degrading," she added.

The survivor said she would not name names about who was responsible for these activities, but pointed to people "higher up" in the Home Office.

Asked why she had chosen to take the stage alongside Reform leader Mr Farage, Ms Reynolds told reporters: "My choice was because, quite frankly, us girls and young boys, because young boys are nowhere near as mentioned as they should be – we will go to anybody that will listen.

"I’ve sat in my local town and I’ve had meetings with the MP – she’s Labour.

"I begged for help, and she openly admitted that she was discussing my case with my local police force and they said how much they'd failed me.

"I offered to do many things to raise awareness and she said that she’d do it and I’m still waiting nearly a year later.

"I will go to anybody that will listen, and anybody that’s going to make a change to this country."

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast last Tuesday, Ms Reynolds said survivors were not allowed to seek support from friends or family and were "discouraged" from speaking outside of the panel.

Jim Gamble, a former senior police officer, was the last of the prospective candidates to lead the probe until he walked away.

Mr Gamble, who previously chaired the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command, was one of two candidates selected to lead the Inquiry.

Social worker Annie Hudson, who previously chaired the government's Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, had also been in the frame before she stood back from the process.