{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreigdrhgtmxevz7bsuz6okldxwm3rw7c32e4pkrfkfuz2obt6d3kdxa",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3miiycnmefms2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreidohz3llhkatt3z4a2jybnjstjmiq37kualcb773hyboqlgq6zdmq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 42865
  },
  "path": "/celebrity/alex-armstrong-labour-laughing-muslim-grooming-gang-joke-ayesha-hazarika",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-02T09:47:08.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Christopher Hope delivers brilliant response after Keir Starmer snubs GB News star for TikToker",
    "BBC confirms what the 'new information' is that led to Scott Mills' axe after presenter speaks out",
    "ITV presenter breaks silence over 'humiliating' relationship split fron pro footballer: 'Cheated!'",
    "https://t.co/VWzEGGbtSQ",
    "April 1, 2026",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter",
    "@ayeshahazarika",
    "@UKLabour",
    "@Ofcom",
    "@Alexarmstrong"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nAlex Armstrong has slammed Labour peer Baroness Ayesha Hazarika after she was recorded joking about grooming gangs during a radio broadcast.\n\nThe exchange took place on Sunday during Times Radio’s Weekend Drivetime show, hosted by journalist Stig Abell.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIn a 24-second clip of the broadcast, which has since gone viral online, Baroness Hazarika can be heard saying: “I’m like an enabler… I’m a groomer, oh my God. Just because I’m Muslim, stop it, honestly, ha ha ha.”\n\nThe host responded: “Don’t groom me, don’t groom me, Ayesha.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Labour peer then joked: “There will be an inquiry, a judge-led inquiry into me right now.”\n\nBoth Ms Hazarika and Mr Abell can be heard laughing during the discussion.\n\nAlex reacted on X, writing: “What a disgusting thing to laugh about. Ayesha should hang her head in shame.”\n\nFans of the presenter were quick to rally behind him on X.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n“Labour continues to show its true colours. This is beyond disgusting,” one wrote.\n\nAnother added: “This is how you lose the room, not a slip but a pattern of tone-deaf politics that hands your opponents the narrative on a plate.”\n\n“@ayeshahazarika Laughing and joking like that shows you can't care! What the hell do you think you are playing at? It shows @UKLabour’s true colours! What is @Ofcom going to do about this?” asked another.\n\nA fourth described Ms Hazarika's comments as “absolutely disgusting\".\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Christopher Hope delivers brilliant response after Keir Starmer snubs GB News star for TikToker\n  * BBC confirms what the 'new information' is that led to Scott Mills' axe after presenter speaks out\n  * ITV presenter breaks silence over 'humiliating' relationship split fron pro footballer: 'Cheated!'\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n> What a disgusting thing to laugh about.\n> Ayesha should hang her head in shame. https://t.co/VWzEGGbtSQ\n>\n> — Alex Armstrong (@Alexarmstrong) April 1, 2026\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nGB News contributor Nick Dixon also shared the audio clip on X, penning: “Hard to find someone less offended by jokes than me, but the attitude implied by this one is very disturbing.\n\n\"Seems to ridicule the notion that Muslims are involved in grooming gangs.\n\n\"Does sound like a private school immigrant with a hatred for working-class native Brits.” (sic)\n\nGB News presenter Patrick Christys also weighed in, writing: “Urgh, this is awful.”\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nOthers lodged complaints with Ofcom and called on Times Radio to investigate the exchange and issue apologies.\n\nMarilyn Hawes, founder and CEO of Freedom from Abuse, told GB News she was “speechless” after hearing the clip.\n\nShe described the exchange as “so inappropriate” and “hideous,” adding: “This is typical of privileged people who have no idea about the reality of this issue.\n\n\"They have and will never have any idea of what it is like to be raped by 1,000 men, as some of these girls have been. I don’t know why or how she is a Baroness.”\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe incident comes as the national inquiry into grooming gangs formally begins.\n\nThe inquiry, chaired by former children’s commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield, will examine whether ethnicity, culture, or religion played a part in the widespread abuse.\n\nLocal probes will start in areas including Oldham, with the inquiry having powers to compel witnesses and documents and a budget of £65 million.\n\nIt is expected to conclude no later than March 2029.\n\nGB News has reached out to Baroness Hazarika, Stig Abell, and Times Radio for comment on the exchange.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Alex Armstrong issues blistering response as Labour peer accused of mocking grooming gang inquiry: 'Disgusting!'"
}