For a little while now there have been questions as to whether the commentary of Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart on their podcast The Rest Is Politics is in tune with reality. Ahead of the US election, Stewart – the former Tory politician – claimed with certainty that Kamala Harris would win only to be left with egg on his face when instead Donald Trump romped home. Meanwhile Campbell was slammed by renowned writer and women’s rights campaigner JK Rowling after he appeared to belatedly discover the degree to which gender ideology concerns voters. Now Stewart and Campbell have turned their attention to Britain’s grooming gang scandal – brought back to the top of the news agenda thanks to Elon Musk. Only how helpful or, er, accurate, their comments on the issue are is another matter…
In a recent episode, the dynamic duo frame the re-emergence of reports on the sexual abuse of young women and children by Asian gangs as a PR battle between Sir Keir Starmer and Musk. So, how do their claims stack up?
- Claim one: The attacks took place in only two cities – Rotherham and Rochdale.
Fact check: False. As Robert Jenrick noted on Twitter, GB News’s Charlie Peters has pointed out that similar grooming gangs have operated in at least 50 towns and cities across the country. A little research goes a long way… - Claim two: Men abusing young girls aged between 13 and 17 were ‘paying them for sex’
Fact check: False. Most of the victims were not paid. This strange claim by Stewart is certainly one way of glossing over horrific attacks on children. - Claim three: The abuse being discussed only took place between 1997 and 2013, with Stewart adding: ‘We’re talking about going back 10, 20 years, is what’s being focused on here.’
Fact check: False. Victims claim the abuse scandal has not ended and remains ongoing, after many perpetrators and enablers evaded justice and walk free today. - Claim four: On those calling for further scrutiny of the grooming gangs, the pair are more than a little scathing. Campbell turns to calls from Musk, alongside Conservative and Reform politicians, for a national inquiry into the scandal. The former Labour spinner opines to Stewart: ‘What [Kemi] Badenoch and [Robert] Jenrick have done is repeated this call for a national inquiry… They’re jumping on the Elon Musk bandwagon and they’re being driven by the Elon Musk bandwagon… I hope this is just the start in terms of actually beginning to tackle the poison of the far right as it is amplified through what has become a very personal megaphone for a megalomaniac.’ Fact check: False. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has blasted the podcasters for appearing ‘convinced that anyone calling for an inquiry is far-right’ – as it is not simply the viewpoint of ‘the far right’ that Musk is amplifying. More than three-quarters of the public back calls made by Jenrick and Badenoch, amongst others, in favour of a national probe into the grooming gangs – including a growing crowd of Labour politicians.
And speaking of the Labour lot, the pod – co-hosted by Tony Blair’s former comms boss – managed to omit the fact that one of the main reasons the scandal began to dominate news sites in the first place was due to the refusal of Home Office minister Jess Phillips to support calls for a government-led inquiry. Talk about being selective with the facts, eh?
It’s a little embarrassing for the pair who have become increasingly prone to slip-ups of late. Perhaps a rebrand to The Rest is Spin would be more fitting…
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