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WATCH: Reform councillor says cover-up of Glasgow grooming gangs is 'no surprise'
Nov 7, 2025
A Reform UK councillor has launched a blistering attack on Police Scotland for allegedly "censoring" the abuse suffered by girls at the hands of grooming gangs in Glasgow.Speaking to GB News, Thomas Kerr hit out at the "deeply scary" uncovering of the scandal in his city, admitting he is "not surprised" authorities have attempted to hide it.FULL STORY HERE.
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the Reform UK Councillor for Glasgow City Council, Thomas Care
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Thomas, a lot of people will be thinking, grooming gangs, this is an English issue
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This is an issue in the English cities, in places like Rotherham, in places like Greater Manchester
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But this is happening in Scotland, do you believe? Yeah, look, a lot of people, Tom, have thought for a long time
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that Scotland was not exempt from these issues. But whenever we raised them
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we were called far right and racist and how we speak about these sort of topics
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Taylor's came forward with a heartbreaking story. I mean, I watched the report that Charlie done and it is absolutely heartbreaking to see
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To watch someone from my city, the city I'm proud to be a Glaswegian, I love this city
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at the back of my hand, to see that this has happened in this city under the watch of both
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Police Scotland and the Care Inspectorate is deeply, deeply scary. So it's something that I think the
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media thought that it was maybe just an English issue but I think a lot of people in Scotland
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didn't know that this was going on and And the fact it's taken so long for it to come out really does say a lot
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Thomas I don want to bring up the situation of the women rights issues but women and girls in Scotland don seem to be getting a particularly good time do they No we currently have a government in Scotland that can describe what a woman is so we shouldn be surprised that this government has tried their hardest
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to censor young women who are vulnerable, who have been abused in the system
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And by the way, this is an issue that's happened under successive parties. This isn't an issue that's just to do with the SNP, Labour, Conservatives
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Everybody have been in charge in Scotland. There has been consistent appeals from people to bring this forward
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The fact that the Scottish Government were dragging their feet for so long to have a special inquiry says a lot
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I am glad it looks as if they may be moving in that direction, but the fact it's taken people at Taylor to have to come forward
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for them to even consider it really does show you how desperate this situation is getting in Scotland
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Yes, Thomas, there does seem to be perhaps a softening of the government position in response to our story
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now saying that an inquiry is under review. Previously, the First Minister, John Swinney
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had said that he wasn't considering it. He didn't believe it was necessary
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Now, another thing that we've been discussing in our report is FOI data showing that Police
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Scotland and the strategic group have no markers or form of recording group exploitation One of the concerns we heard from Labour MP Joni Reid is that if you can record this form of abuse how can you possibly understand the pattern and then properly prosecute it Do you want Police Scotland to then include group abuse as a form of
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identification when recording crimes? Yeah, the fact that they don't do that is absolutely shocking
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and Joni Reid, this is a cross-party issue because Joni Reid has done some fantastic work on this as
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well. So I think that it has to be something the Police Scotland have to look at because
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it's just not on, this has not been recorded properly. How can you tackle an issue if the
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police aren't recording it? So it's something that has to be looked at. OK, and Thomas, when we're reflecting on this more broadly, obviously we have the National
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Inquiry in Westminster looking at the issue in England and Wales. We've been hearing from
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survivors today, getting in touch with us, who say that they were trafficked from England
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up to Glasgow. The Bradford survivor Fiona Goddard speaking to GB News earlier today
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saying that she herself was trafficked to Glasgow as well, and that she's spoken about this before
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Are you concerned that even though Police Scotland say they're liaising with UK-wide
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police forces that this inquiry being launched by Sikir Starmer does have a gap at the border and that more work needs to be done Yes absolutely and that part of the reason why I think the Scottish Government has to get dragged into trying to get this
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inquiry set up in Scotland, but I think that Keir Starmer has to look at the fact that this is a UK
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wide issue, this is not ending at the border as soon as you go for Gretna Green, somehow
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everything's all sunny and rosy in Glasgow and hearing the heartbreaking stories from
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female victims who have been suffered by this is absolutely devastating, I mean
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I cannot tell you how heartbreaking it is as a Glaswegian to know that this is taking place in the city that I was born and bred in
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that I was brought up in. It's heartbreaking that that's been happening. So Keir Starmer and the Scottish Government have to both get their finger out, frankly
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and get action taken because it doesn't enter the border and these women deserve justice
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Thomas, just one final question for you. Is this still going on? Are there more victims as we sit, speak now
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Genuinely, I don't know. I honestly don't know. If you'd asked me 10 years ago
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what is this happening in Glasgow at the current moment? I'd have said no, so I have no idea what's happening in the city now
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The fact that the Scottish Government hasn't taken action, the fact that whenever politicians do speak about this
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we're tarned with phrases like far-right and racist, I think it could be still going on in Glasgow
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I think there is a chance it could be. And the fact that the Scottish Government isn't acting quickly enough
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we're not going to get to the bottom of it until they do
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