A man who led a Muslim community boycott of the police after the Rotherham rape gang scandal has been awarded an MBE for “services to integration” and “cohesion”.
Muhbeen Hussain called for Muslims to cut ties with South Yorkshire Police in October 2015, the year after a probe into the scandal found evidence that authorities had neglected reports for decades.
The force found that there was clear evidence in the South Yorkshire area from as far back as 2003.
Hussain's campaign group warned: “Any Muslim groups or institutions in Rotherham that do not adhere to this policy of disengagement will also be boycotted by the Muslim community, and they should take all the necessary action to protect ourselves."
The National Crime Agency now believes that at least 1,500 girls were abused in the town between 1997 and 2013.
However, Hussain claimed that the police had failed to act on allegations “because of fears of being called racist", which led to an attempt to “scapegoat” Muslims.
Hussain also argued that South Yorkshire Police had allowed attacks from 'far-right' groups, with boycotts coming after a local Muslim man was murdered in a racially aggravated incident.
Alexis Jay had also published an inquiry in 2014 exposing the true horrors and magnitude of Britain's darkest scandal.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Muhbeen Hussain, founder of a British Muslim youth group in the town, received an MBE
SKY NEWS
Over decades, organised gangs of abusers targeted children in their homes and in local institutions, while local authorities repeatedly turned a blind eye.
Following the enquiry, the Conservative Government said that "institutionalised political correctness" had contributed to the scandal.
Jay found that “there was a widespread perception [within social services] that messages conveyed by some senior people in the council and also the police, were to ‘downplay’ the ethnic dimensions of [child sexual exploitation]”.
Hussain later received his MBE for “political services to integration cohesion and to British society” was announced in the King’s birthday honours list last month.
Sir Keir Starmer has now ordered a full-scale national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal
PAIt is unknown who nominated him for the award, which accepts applications from the public before being vetted by a committee supported by civil servants in the Cabinet Office.
A senior fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank, Sir John Jenkins, said: “Hussain’s pending award of the MBE brings the system into discredit.
"The Government should review the system of due diligence applied to those being awarded honours to understand how Mr Hussain’s prior activity in boycotting the police was overlooked and to implement steps to avoid such awards in future."
Hussain recognised the widespread scale of the rape gang cover-up, claiming that the crimes, mainly committed by British Pakistani males, were against the faith of Islam.
Some of the men involved in the Rotherham grooming gangsPASir Keir Starmer has now ordered a full-scale national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal after GB News's award-winning coverage.
In 2023, GB News found that over 50 different towns and cities, including Rotherham, had been affected by the scandal.
The Prime Minister said that he had decided to accept a recommendation from Baroness Casey of Blackstock, who was asked to carry out a national audit by the Government earlier this year.
Starmer said that the inquiry will be statutory, which means that it will have powers to compel witnesses to give evidence and is independent of Government.
A graphic on which political party is most trusted to handle a grooming gangs inquiryFriderichs Advisory and JL PartnersIt is understood that the probe will coordinate the other local inquiries which are already underway.
The inquiry will see executives and ministers grilled in front of cameras, much like the Post Office Horizon scandal.
The inquiry will, according to reports, examine the issue of the perpetrators' race and allegations of a cover-up by authorities more keen not to inflame racial tensions.
Starmer said the national inquiry would be statutory under the Inquiries Act, which operates in line with the provisions of the Inquiries Act 2005 and the Inquiry Rules 2006, according to the House of Commons library.