THE crimes committed by Britain’s grooming and rape gangs are the worst in living memory.
For decades, thousands of children across dozens of towns were , most of whom were Pakistani .
Far too many people within the British state turned a blind eye, or actively worked to cover up the Grooming GangsCredit: Crown Copyright
How can we possibly expect Baroness Longfield to deal head-on with difficult issues around race and religion, or to properly investigate the role that Labour-run councils played in covering up this abuse?Credit: Supplied
Far too many people within the , or actively worked to cover up these crimes, because they feared being called racist or just didn’t believe the victims.
, local councils and care homes were all complicit in this cover-up.
The victims of the grooming gangs were let down and ignored by the very institutions that were supposed to protect them.
Last year the Government was dragged, kicking and screaming, into holding a .
After accusing those who were calling for an inquiry of “jumping on a far-right bandwagon” in January, by June even had been forced to accept that these crimes really did happen, and that they really were covered up.
The public deserves to know the whole truth.
For many grooming gang survivors, the announcement of a full national inquiry offered hope that justice might finally be done, and that those who perpetrated or covered up these crimes might finally be punished.
But the devil is in the detail.
After initially committing to an inquiry in the summer, the Government dragged its feet for months, refusing to reveal anything more about how the inquiry would work, or who would lead it.
In the autumn, a number of survivors resigned from the Government’s “survivor liaison panel”, raising concerns that they were being manipulated into broadening the scope of the review beyond grooming gangs.
And at the end of last year, when the Government finally released the details of the inquiry, it quickly became clear that they just weren’t serious about uncovering the truth.
Victims are now faced with the prospect of another cover-up.
We now know that the inquiry is set to be chaired by Baroness Longfield, a peer who has long campaigned for “racial inclusion” in our education system.
Given this background, how can we possibly expect her to deal head-on with difficult issues around race and religion, or to properly investigate the role that Labour-run councils played in covering up this abuse?
The inquiry will also be bound by its “terms of reference”, which set out what will be investigated, and to what end.
The crimes committed by Britain’s grooming and rape gangs are the worst in living memory
The draft terms produced by the
If adopted, the inquiry would spend no time looking at the role of race or religion in motivating these crimes, would not lead to any prosecutions of those involved in the cover-up, and would have no authority to look at grooming gang cases which took place before the year 2000, despite the fact these crimes have been taking place for many decades.
It wouldn’t cover every local authority with a or explore why many judges gave such soft sentences to grooming gang perpetrators.
It wouldn’t explore links between grooming gangs and organised crime, or even seek to define what a “grooming gang” is in the first place.
Instead of a proper inquiry designed to uncover the truth, the Government is planning to turn this process into a bureaucratic exercise in “lessons learned”.
It is simply not good enough.
But we can force them to change course and expose the full truth about these horrors.
The Government is holding a consultation on these terms, with a deadline for submissions on Friday.
Any member of the public can submit their thoughts, and demand that the Government carries out this inquiry properly.
If you think that the Government needs to uncover the full truth about the grooming gangs, and punish those responsible for the cover-up, then there is still time to force them to do so.
Online at groominggangjustice.uk, you can find the full list of criticisms about the Government’s plans, and a list of demands about how the inquiry should be carried out instead.
If you agree, you can put in your details — name, email address and postcode — and the site will fill out the consultation for you.
It only takes a moment, but if enough people do this, we can force the Government to change the terms of reference, and deliver real justice for the victims of the grooming gangs.
This cover-up has gone on for far too long, and victims have been let down far too many times.
The Government must listen, and uncover the full truth about these horrific crimes.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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