What became known as the “grooming gangs” scandal never matched the scale of the evil.
Some of the most vulnerable people in our country were abused and exploited by predatory monsters.
Victims and survivors were failed then and for years after. They were not believed.
That’s why this Government has committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover how these crimes were allowed to happen and root out state failure wherever it occurred.
It was with a heavy heart I learnt some members have chosen to step away. The door will always remain open, but I owe it to them, and to the country, to address their concerns.
There will be no hiding place for the evil child rapists who abused the most vulnerable. A moment of reckoning will come.- What became known as the “grooming gangs” scandal never matched the scale of the evil. Some of the most vulnerable people in our country were abused and exploited by predatory monsters. Victims and survivors were failed then and for years after. They were not believed. That’s why this Government has committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover how these crimes were allowed to happen and root out state failure wherever it occurred. It was with a heavy heart I learnt some members have chosen to step away. The door will always remain open, but I owe it to them, and to the country, to address their concerns.
- 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. I know that some are frustrated that they are still waiting for this inquiry to begin. I understand that frustration. And I feel it myself.
Will you describe the victims properly? “White British girls” Will you describe the predators properly? Are you brave enough to name and shame the mainly Pakistani Muslim men?
