A Personal Statement Regarding the Rape Gang Inquiry. I would like to announce that I will no longer be working alongside MP Rupert Lowe and his team as lead on the Rape Gang Inquiry. Firstly, I would like to thank Rupert for launching the inquiry and ensuring that the findings were published for the world to see. I would also like to thank everyone who generously donated to make the inquiry possible. But most importantly, my heartfelt thanks go to the survivors, family members, professionals and whistleblowers who came forward, shared their experiences and provided vital evidence. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Together, we have helped expose the horrific abuse, exploitation and institutional failures that have taken place across our country for decades, raising awareness and presenting evidence on a global scale. Your bravery, strength and courage never fail to amaze me. I know how difficult it has been for so many of you to speak out. It has been an absolute honour and privilege to work alongside each and every one of you. Although my time working on the inquiry has come to an end, my fight to protect children, expose government corruption and hold those responsible to account will continue. I wish Rupert and all the participants the very best as they move forward with private prosecutions. Thank you.

The footage emerging from a jewellery shop in Lyon, France, is absolutely extraordinary. Windows smashed. Display cases destroyed. Jewellery stolen. A business left devastated. This has nothing to do with school protests. Nothing to do with the cost of living. This is criminality, pure and simple. We are watching Europe's once high trust societies erode before our very eyes.

ITV journalists forged a passport, and were paid by ITV to canvass for Reform. Reform lost in the wards they were assigned by a handful of votes. These are criminal acts. We have reported them to the police and will pursue them relentlessly in court. Nobody is above the law.

Here, we have no equivalent. The police are civilians in uniform, as Robert Peel emphasised in his nine principles: “The police at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police.” Since the fiasco of the 1981 Brixton riots, where officers lacked even rudimentary kit against stones and Molotov cocktails, they are now better trained and equipped. But the police still lack the wherewithal to deal with widespread rioting. Even attempts to introduce anti-riot gear common on the continent run into difficulties here. Theresa May, when home secretary in 2014, vetoed the purchase by the Metropolitan Police of three water cannons of the sort routinely used in Northern Ireland. They were bought from the German police at a cost of £320,000 but were sold for scrap four years later. Mrs May said “without safeguards” they had “the capacity to cause harm”, which many people might imagine was their purpose. The modern police “service” as it now must be called is simply not up to dealing with the sort of riots seen at the weekend in France and neither should they be. Bludgeoned by criticism for the way they handled the Brixton riots and the Stephen Lawrence murder they have become more like social workers than upholders of law and order. It is true that London is one of the world’s safest big cities, but no one living in the capital is unaware of the existence of an element ready to descend into lawlessness at the drop of a hat. The anti-Israeli Left is allowed to parade its bigotry through the streets precisely because the police cannot risk triggering a backlash they could not deal with. They were criticised when the Tottenham riots broke out for allowing the looters a free rein for hours, itself a reflection of the non-confrontational nostrums that have guided the policing of ethnically diverse areas, with disastrous consequences. Once they let the impression develop that there was a chance to plunder with impunity, it became far more difficult – if not impossible – for the police to regain control. The Government’s duty is to keep order and protect property. That is the contract the people have with the state, which prevents us from taking the law into our own hands. That is what policing by consent means. But when that breaks down, what then? It may be time to buy some new water cannons, or invest in a dedicated riot squad. Link: telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…