Politics moves fast. One day, a scandal dominates the headlines. The next, it vanishes.
Governments rely on this chaos to wriggle free from tough questions, and that’s exactly what Keir Starmer was doing when he ignored calls for a national inquiry into the rape gangs still ruining lives across our country.
But I’m determined to keep this issue in the spotlight. The media and Westminster might move on, but those affected have no such luxury.
“There’s too many buzzwords, phrases that they’re using like ‘we’ve learned lessons’ and ‘we hold our hands up’… but they keep making the same mistakes.”
That was the reply of one survivor when I asked if she felt the Labour government was doing enough to deliver justice for the likely tens of thousands of girls and boys who, over decades, were brutally abused by rape gangs; men whose values had no place in Britain.
Since the start of the year, I have been meeting survivors of these odious gangs, hearing their stories and asking what it is they want to see.
There is a deep mistrust of those in power. It’s hardly surprising when one of Keir Starmer’s most powerful ministers, Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell, dismissed the issue as “dog whistle” and described those raising the problem as blowing “that little trumpet”.
Thoughtless words like Powell’s not only reinforce the mistrust, they also rightly cast doubt on what little the Labour government have announced. Last week, I met a survivor at her home in Bradford. She told me: “The world is now watching Oldham” (the only council to come forward with a request for one of Labour’s local inquiries), “and we are going to get it wrong”
This simply isn’t good enough. From arrogant dismissals that reveal their true thoughts on the issue, to U-turns on inquiries and funding, Labour is letting down the rape gangs survivors time and again. Worse still, every survivor I speak to – and many of the police and council whistleblowers – believe this is a problem still going on.
That is why I won’t stop my call for a statutory inquiry that forces us to confront this horror and gets to the truth about the extent of the abuse and the cover-ups and makes sure it never happens again.
And it is not just me calling for this, nor the many victims who tell me a statutory inquiry is needed to serve justice. More than 140,000 people have now signed the Conservatives’ petition for a statutory inquiry. Alongside them, politicians from independent MP Rupert Lowe to Labour MP Sarah Champion and Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have all expressed support for a full inquiry.
Yet the Labour government have determined that it is for the councils to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally. But in doing so, they are ignoring the fact that for decades, girls were trafficked across towns and cities in England. The rape gangs have a presence in over 50 towns. This is a national problem, not a local one.
Labour is exhibiting the same attitude encountered by many of the whistleblowers who tried to help these girls. Many were shamefully ignored by those who could have intervened. Why? Because of a system in which people were too scared to act, or worse, incentivised to protect perpetrators and demonise victims.
We need to ensure that the culture and bureaucracy that allowed this cover-up to happen are properly scrutinised. We know for a fact that compromised officials are still working in the public sector and have not yet been held accountable. Only a national inquiry can compel witnesses from the police, charities and the NHS to give evidence under oath.
In some cases, councils actually turned a blind eye to the abuse and colluded with police to keep this scandal under wraps. Local inquiries require potentially guilty councils to choose to investigate themselves. Indeed, it was only after Labour lost control of the council in Oldham that the council requested an inquiry.
There has been some good work. The Alexis Jay inquiry produced some important recommendations, most of which the Conservative government accepted. But the Jay inquiry didn’t seek to reveal the cover-up or expose who was responsible.
The Conservative government set up the Grooming Gangs Taskforce, which helped police forces identify and protect over 4,000 victims and contributed to 500 arrests in 12 months. But it is clear we still need to go further, and only a national inquiry will do the job.
So, we are going to force another vote on the floor of parliament for a national inquiry into rape gangs. I urge all MPs to vote for truth and justice for the victims. Be part of the solution, not the problem. This is an issue of national integrity.
