A cabinet minister held a private meeting with a key ally of Tommy Robinson, the far-right leader accused of stoking the riots that followed the Southport stabbings.
Louise Haigh, the transport secretary, met Sammy Woodhouse, a victim of the Rotherham grooming gang scandal who now works as a “citizen journalist” for Urban Scoop, an alternative news site linked to Robinson.
No officials were present at the meeting. It took place on Thursday in Sheffield, where Haigh sits as an MP.