Six months ago, the Labour Government finally announced a national inquiry into the grooming gangs’ scandal. The inquiry was meant to restore trust.
Instead, the Labour Government seem intent on perpetuating the very cover-up which they are supposed to be investigating.
The grooming gangs’ scandal is the biggest child safeguarding scandal in our country’s history. Young girls and some boys as young as just 10 years old were systematically gang raped and trafficked. Because the perpetrators were mainly of Pakistani heritage, those in authority, the police and local councils, who should have protected these vulnerable young people, actively covered up these terrible crimes.
It is clear they were more concerned about being accused of being racist than they were about protecting young girls and young boys.
This cover-up cannot go on any longer. Today, the Conservative Party is publishing a Terms of Reference for the national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs, which we developed working closely with survivors, their families, and their advocates.
Survivors have been waiting long enough – it’s time for the Government to get on with the job and adopt our Terms of Reference.
Our Terms of Reference give the inquiry the statutory powers it needs to compel witnesses and evidence so that authorities cannot continue to hide the truth about the cover-up of these crimes.
We know the majority of the grooming gang perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage, and we know their ethnicity was the reason many of their crimes were actively covered up by the authorities as not to ‘inflame community tensions’.
That is why the inquiry must also look at the cover-up by those in positions of authority – police officers, social workers and even politicians. This is a key part of our terms of reference.
We must end this absurd diplomatic dance and turn the screws on Pakistan over grooming gangs - Chris Philp | Getty Images
We also know that young children were trafficked around the country by these grooming gangs. That is why our terms of reference specify the inquiry must be thorough and look at anywhere these grooming gangs are known to have operated.
But we want to make sure that survivors do not have to wait any longer for justice. That is why we expect this inquiry to conclude within two years.
We want to work constructively with the Government to get the inquiry up and running now. But the truth is, the Labour Government never wanted the inquiry into grooming gangs to begin with. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming into holding it.
The Labour Government must start taking action now to get justice for the survivors. They must adopt our terms of reference. They must also start forcing Pakistan to take back the grooming gang perpetrators who are eligible for deportation by suspending all foreign aid and imposing visa sanctions until these disgusting rapists are deported.
The time for covering this up is over. We need the truth.
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