Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe used a Westminster Hall debate on Monday to confront MPs with harrowing testimony from White girls and women who were raped, tortured, trafficked, and degraded by migrant grooming gangs, and abandoned by the very authorities that should have protected them.
The debate was secured after 260,974 Brits signed a petition calling for Parliament to address the rape gang scandal. Lowe opened by thanking the signatories and welcoming survivors who were sitting in the hall, saying the debate was not about politics, but about them.
“I want the world to hear what we heard during the two weeks of our independent rape gang inquiry hearings, an inquiry that should never have needed to happen,” Lowe said.
He then read out a series of graphic testimonies that exposed the scale of the abuse suffered by almost exclusively White girls.
One survivor said she was only “about 12, nearly 13” when a man raped her before forcing an empty Jack Daniel’s bottle inside her and breaking the glass. Another described being held down by groups of men as they took turns to rape her, before beating her and threatening to kill her and harm her loved ones if she ever spoke out.
I want the world to hear what we heard. pic.twitter.com/2DtCS0QztE
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) June 1, 2026Lowe told MPs that the evidence heard by his inquiry included repeated allegations that White British girls were deliberately targeted.
One survivor said abusers made constant references to “White girls” and “Christian girls,” claiming they had “fewer morals or lower values,” while Muslim girls were described as having “dignity and higher moral standing.”
Another alleged victim said race “did play a part” in the selection of victims, adding that the girls she encountered during her exploitation were “almost exclusively White.”
The testimony also included claims that children in care were effectively handed over to abusers. One survivor said men would sound a car horn outside a children’s home before a staff member brought a child to the front door. Another said, “It was all of the White girls in every home that I went to.”
In one of the most disturbing accounts read to MPs, a survivor recalled seeing the back of a van opened to reveal “15, 20 girls locked in dog cages.” Another said dogs were brought in during an attack while men stood around filming, laughing, and betting on what would happen. She said she had nowhere to move and was raped by a dog while a man held her face and stared into her eyes because “he wanted to see me break.”
Lowe also read testimony from a survivor who said she was raped by “probably about six or seven hundred different men” over three years after the abuse began when she was 13. Another said abuse escalated around Eid and holidays, when parties became “bigger, worse, and “more violent,” with more men and more girls involved.
The Restore Britain leader claimed that institutions had repeatedly failed victims. One girl said she went to hospital at 15, bleeding, swollen, and unable to sit down after an assault, but was given tablets and discharged after telling staff her drink had been spiked because she was too frightened to say what had really happened. “They did not ask any questions,” she said.
Another survivor alleged that she was raped by multiple police officers in different parts of the country. A further testimony claimed a man put a cigarette out on a baby’s face.
Lowe said the abuse was also used to attack the faith and identity of victims. One Christian survivor said her cross was used as a way to break her down, with abusers asking, “Where is your God now? Has your God forsaken you?”
The politician said he could have continued reading testimony “for hours and hours,” warning that Parliament no longer had any excuse for inaction.
“All of us in this building have a responsibility to finally act. Not to talk, but to act,” he said. “Our Rape Gang Inquiry report will be released in the coming days. It will change Britain for good.”
Lowe launched his own independent inquiry before the U.K. government announced a statutory national investigation into grooming gangs, a probe that identified evidence of child sexual exploitation across dozens of local authority areas.
Tyler Durden Wed, 06/03/2026 - 03:30The saga of rare Washington pressure on its longtime regional ally Oman continues, with on Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reporting that US officials are growing "increasingly frustrated" with Muscat's neutral stance, which they now view as hostile to US interests.
Oman has stood accused of cooperating with Iran on a proposed toll collection scheme which would benefit Tehran and circumvent America's aims for the region.
Via container-news"In recent days, the Trump administration has threatened to sanction and even bomb Oman, after a new intelligence assessment concluded that Muscat was planning to join Iran in tolling vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to another U.S. official," WSJ writes. "Oman has repeatedly denied that it plans to do so."
Interestingly, Oman actually provided some level of military assistance to the US even as it launched an unprovoked attack on the Islamic Republic alongside Israel.
"Omani territory was used to provide some logistical supplies to the U.S. military at the start of the war, say Arab and U.S. officials," notes the report. "But the U.S. official said the military assistance was small."
During a cabinet meeting last week, President Trump made clear that Muscat must align with US-backed 'international norms' or face consequences, warning, "Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up."
Omani Information Minister Abdulla al-Harrasi has recently emphasized that the Sultanate remains "ready to work with the United States and all responsible partners to promote stability" and protect mutual interests.
The small strategically located Arabian peninsula country has sought to walk a fine line, but Washington is angered as it has yet to explicitly condemn Iran, even after weeks of attacks on Gulf states (at the height of Operation Epic Fury):
Since the war started, Oman has assisted ships, including from the U.S., by providing navigational guidance, search-and-rescue services and medical assistance to ship crews, said a person familiar with the matter.
Harrasi said the country remained committed to the free flow of commerce and energy through the strait. “Any threat to freedom of navigation in these waters would harm the interests of the entire international community, including the United States,” he said.
In May, Oman was the only Persian Gulf country that refused to sign an Emirati-led U.N. statement condemning Iran’s move to charge tolls in Hormuz.
Some have called Oman the "Switzerland of the Middle East" - a status that Omani diplomats are proud of. Likely they are also very wary of being seen as is America's or Israel's corners - especially before their domestic Arab population.
One analyst quoted in the WSJ has summarized where things stand: Oman's approach to Tehran so far has "opened the door to criticism and unwelcome scrutiny of a country that has long prided itself on its impartial foreign policy."
Meanwhile, via Financial Times on Tuesday: "Greek shipping tycoon Evangelos Marinakis ready to pay Strait of Hormuz transit fees."
Marco Rubio on Iran:
We can't have a world in which only Iranian ships get through the straits.
If they are going to shut down the straits for everybody, we are going to shut down the straits for them. pic.twitter.com/OU2unUVGum
If this trend of different shipping companies and nations approaching Tehran to do separate deal-making to transit the strait continues, we could see Iran placed in a stronger position globally than before the war began.
Tyler Durden Wed, 06/03/2026 - 02:45Reuters reported that Russian officials discussed influence operations aimed at weakening Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary election.
One alleged proposal involved temporarily bringing Armenian passport holders living in Russia back to Armenia to vote for opposition candidates.
Despite the reported efforts, polling suggests Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party remains the clear frontrunner as Armenia debates its future relationship with Russia and the West.
Russia has mulled an extraordinary measure of exporting humans to Armenia in an effort to undermine Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s chances of retaining power in the fast-approaching parliamentary elections on June 7, according to an investigative report published by the Reuters news agency.
Despite the Kremlin’s best efforts to manipulate the election’s outcome, recent polling data shows that Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party is pulling away from a collection of opposition forces and appears increasingly likely to have a majority in the next parliament.
According to Reuters, citing four sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Kremlin set up an agency in October called the Directorate for Strategic Cooperation and Partnership to run a wide array of influence operations in Armenia, including disinformation campaigns.
Another initiative reportedly considered involved transporting Armenian passport holders living in Russia back to Armenia temporarily so that they could vote for opposition candidates. Up to 2 million Armenian citizens are believed to be living and working in Russia. Election rules bar expats from voting.
Several Reuters sources said that Russian officials estimated that it would cost about $50 million to send 100,000 Armenians back to their homeland to cast ballots. Reuters could not confirm whether the repatriation-to-vote operation had been set in motion, and, if it had, how many Armenian citizens had actually returned for the elections.
Any such effort would appear to be a waste of time and money. A recent poll published by the International Republican Institute showed that Pashinyan’s public support is growing, the percentage moving from the low 20s to over 30 percent now.
Given the fragmented support for opposition forces, Pashinyan’s party should be able to retain a parliamentary majority if it can maintain 30 percent support on June 7.
Pashinyan has sought to break Armenia out of Russia’s geopolitical orbit over the past two years and steer the country towards greater integration with the United States and European Union. Russia, meanwhile, is keen to maintain its political hold on Yerevan.
The parliamentary vote is widely seen as a referendum on Armenia’s geopolitical future.
Tyler Durden Wed, 06/03/2026 - 02:00