In January, the Home Secretary pledged £5 million for five locally led inquiries into ‘grooming gangs’, in the wake of public outcry led by the richest man on the planet Elon Musk. Yesterday, on the last day before Easter recess, the government watered down its promise to victims and survivors of rape gangs. The £5 million in funding may now also go towards ‘locally-led work’ following feedback from local authorities. The Conservatives had previously called for a national statutory inquiry into ‘grooming gangs’, but a proposed amendment attached to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was voted down at the beginning of the year. Not surprising, given the Labour government’s majority.
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Jonathan Sacerdoti
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Yesterday’s announcement by Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, was met with anger on the opposition benches. The shadow minister Katie Lam did not hold back. She said:
‘The girls we are talking about are predominantly white. The men who preyed on them were predominantly Muslim, generally either from Pakistan or of Pakistani heritage. One of the victims from Dewsbury was told by her rapist: “We’re here to fuck all the white girls and fuck the Government.” Does the Minister accept that in many cases these crimes were racially and religiously aggravated? How, without a national inquiry, can we understand what part those factors played?’
Lam went on to highlight horrifying details of abuse, like the case of ‘Anna’ from Bradford. Vulnerable and in care, she repeatedly reported being raped to social care workers at the age of 14. A year on, she was ‘married’ to an abuser in a traditional Islamic marriage ceremony – remarkably a social worker attended.
Lam also mentioned the Rotherham father who attempted to rescue his daughter from abusers but who was detained twice in one night by South Yorkshire police – his daughter was sexually exploited by a gang of men that very same evening.
Highlighting the judge’s sentencing remarks in the Oxford ‘grooming gang’ case, Lam warned of ‘extremely graphic’ detail she was about to disclose, but said, ‘we must not look away or sanitise this evil’.
Robbie Moore, the Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley said he was, ‘completely infuriated’ by Phillip’s statement. He also said that for over five years the Bradford council leadership in his constituency, ‘have denied, refused and covered up, every single time I and victims, survivors and their families have called for a full rape gang inquiry across Keighley and the wider Bradford district.’
Surely this alone, highlights the need for a statutory national inquiry into the scandal? Notably, the former Labour MP for Keighley, Ann Cryer was one of the first politicians to highlight the issue of Pakistani heritage men targeting white girls following an appeal from victims’ mothers back in 2002. In 2013, Cryer told the Home Affairs Committee that fears of being called racist had stifled action by authorities. But, has the fear of being accused of ‘racism’ or ‘Islamophobia’, now been amplified by the fear of losing a parliamentary seat? After all there are many constituencies where Labour narrowly secured victory against candidates running a pro-Palestine campaign. Groups like the Muslim Vote, have highlighted constituencies with 10 per cent or more Muslim voters.
The final word must go to survivors of what is undoubtedly Britain’s greatest scandal. Following the government’s statement, Elizabeth Harper, a Rotherham survivor and activist told me:
‘It’s no surprise. I always said it was an immediate knee jerk reaction because of the public backlash following Elon Musk raising the subject. Once again, we don’t matter, we didn’t as children and now we don’t as adults.’
Campaigner Sammy Woodhouse told me:
‘It’s absolutely disgusting that they’ve done this – and they thought that by doing it in an empty chamber, just as they break for Easter, they’d get away with it. Labour doesn’t care about children being raped. I’ve named many politicians over the years for their involvement in the scandal. They won’t push for the truth because they fear the perpetrators’ race and religion. Our government is weak. The children of the UK have been sacrificed for votes. Jess Phillips – and every politician who isn’t pushing on this issue – should be ashamed of themselves. I’ll never stop fighting to keep this at the forefront of our country.’
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