For years, the victims were ignored. A few, this channel amongst them, listened to them and gave them voice. But – to its eternal discredit – the state, in its many forms, did not heed their call until it was far too late.
In time, we came to know this as the “grooming gangs” scandal, though I have never thought the name matched the scale of the evil. We must call them what they were: evil child rapists.
We must acknowledge who they were, too. While the data is scant, and shamefully so, Baroness Louise Casey’s report was clear that “disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds” were “amongst the suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation”.
Like all who read that report, I was horrified by what Baroness Casey exposed. Some of the most vulnerable people in this country were abused and exploited at the hands of predatory monsters.
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It was, and will forever remain, one of the darkest moments in our country’s history.
The victims and survivors were failed, both at the time of their abuse and in the many years afterwards.
They were not believed. They were treated as an inconvenience. In some cases, they were even made suspects themselves.
I know that the only way that we, as a country, can move forwards is when we finally get to the whole truth.
That is why this Government committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry.
'No hiding place' for grooming gang 'predatory monsters', Shabana Mahmood tells GB News | PA
This inquiry must uncover how these crimes were allowed to happen, and root out state failure wherever it occurred, be that local government, national government, policing or elsewhere.
Doing so is the very least that the victims of these hideous crimes deserve.
It is essential that the victims themselves are at the heart of this inquiry. It was for that reason that we set up a victims group to support the inquiry in its inception, and throughout its work.
It was with a heavy heart, in recent days, I learnt that some members have decided to step away from the group. Should they wish to return, the door will always remain open to them.
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While the data is scant, and shamefully so, Baroness Louise Casey’s report was clear that 'disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds' were 'amongst the suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation', Ms Mahmood wrote
| WEST YORKSHIRE POLICEBut even if they do not, I owe it to them – and the country – to answer some of the concerns that they have raised.
Firstly, this inquiry is not, and will never be, watered down on my watch. Its scope will not change, and nor will its intent.
It will be robust and rigorous. It will direct and oversee local investigations, with the power to compel witnesses and summon evidence.
Secondly, this inquiry will focus on grooming gangs – and that will not change. Thirdly, it will explicitly examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders.
GB News has identified over 50 different towns and cities which have endured abuse gangs | GB NEWSI know that some are frustrated that they are still waiting for this inquiry to begin. I understand that frustration.
And I feel it myself. But I also know that we have to get this right, and take the time to do so.
Crucially, we must appoint the right Chair to lead this work. Unfortunately, that task has been made harder by the intense – albeit justified – pressure that will be placed upon the person who fills it, I hope and believe the wait will now not be much longer.
And once the inquiry begins, the truth will follow. There will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society.
Nor will those who ignored victims, and even covered up what occurred, be shielded from the truth. A moment of reckoning will come.
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