Keir Starmer announces statutory inquiry into so called grooming gangs/organised child sexual abuse and exploitation

Iam64

Louise Casey seems to have done a good audit and I’m pleased Starmer responded positively and quickly.

How Badenoch and co have the brass neck to shout U-turn etc is behind me. Their party sat on the 200 recommendations and implemented one. Their austerity programme destroyed support services for children and families. Specialist police and other essential services diminished so enabling these disgusting gangs to operate

During her time in government, Badenoch was Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families and Minister of State for Equalities. Both those roles would have given her opportunities to become involved in investigations into grooming scandals. Louis Casey had already done her audit and made recommendations, so it wasn't starting from scratch to implement the recommendations. The fact is that she (and the rest of her government) did virtually nothing.

petra

I know I’m not the only one remembering previous threads on this subject who were called racist for using the Asian/Pakistani/Muslim words in relation to this.
Those contributors are noticeable by their absence on this thread.

They probably left in disgust.

Visgir1

They have to get this right. Stop "kicking the can down the road" otherwise Farage will walk into No 10.
A lot of people of All Parties need to hold their heads in shame.

I agree. There seems to have been a tacit acceptance in some quarters that all Pakistani men are sexual deviants and all white working class girls from troubled backgrounds are "asking for it" and deserved what they got.

It was just too much hassle to interfere - and so long as it was happening somewhere else, it wasn't worth bothering about. Pakistani men and working class girls were just social pariahs.

petra

I know I’m not the only one remembering previous threads on this subject who were called racist for using the Asian/Pakistani/Muslim words in relation to this.
Those contributors are noticeable by their absence on this thread.

I don't specifically remember the threads, but I do know that some threads (not only on GN) discussing the grooming gangs most certainly do include elements of racism. That's why I admire Louise Casey. She doesn't shy away from addressing issues head on, but her criticisms aren't racist. I remember when she was carrying out her previous audit that she spoke to many leaders of Muslim groups, amongst others. She reminds me of an uncompromising "firm but fair" headteacher.

Oreo

Casdon

Kandinsky

Casdon

You seem really upset that Asian men are being mentioned at all.

Very weird.

Not because Asian men are under discussion, I have no vested interests at all. I feel the same about any group of people who are singled out on a very thin evidence base. If you think that is weird, fine.

Casdon
Have you read anything from the Casey report? She finds that Asian ethnicity and British Pakistani heritage men are disproportionately involved in child sex grooming gangs and that it needs to be addressed as such with no fear or favour.
Rotheram being just one such a case.
From now on police will be required to state the ethnicity of perpetrators and it should have been that way all along.

Yes i have, and yes I know. I welcome much improved information because it will provide facts rather than fuelling fires.

Unfortunately, when sexual abuse has been perpetuated from one area, over a period of time, I think it is incumbent on the organisation, community to prove that they are taking measures and to be more vocal in their condemnation. The catholic church is a prime example of not addressing what's gone on from within and it has without a doubt been massively damaged by its prevarications and cover ups.

Exactly TerriBull keeping quiet is destructive, whoever and whatever ethnicity or religion.

Lafegar.... Absolutely nothing about this is a joke.

TerriBull

Unfortunately, when sexual abuse has been perpetuated from one area, over a period of time, I think it is incumbent on the organisation, community to prove that they are taking measures and to be more vocal in their condemnation. The catholic church is a prime example of not addressing what's gone on from within and it has without a doubt been massively damaged by its prevarications and cover ups.

Unfortunately, people within any group will tend to turn a blind eye if somebody within their perceived community is doing something wrong. Incidentally, I'm not accusing other Pakistanis of knowing what some of their men were doing. However, the same kind of thing happens within communities about all sorts of crimes. People know that certain individuals and families are operating outside the law but they keep quiet. I'm not sure whether that's a result of a sense of loyalty/solidarity or whether they're scared of recriminations or, maybe, they're suspicious of the police.

Another factor with the Asian grooming gangs was that the men could have been labelled Muslim, but didn't go to Mosque or follow their religion, which means that Muslim leaders have little influence. There are problems within some Muslim families because parents don't feel their children are following their guidance. They're not the only parents who think their children are going off the rails, but don't know what to do about it.

My personal feeling is that there is a crucial role for the police, social services and other organisations. They must treat all crime as equal, whatever the ethnicity or social class of the people involved. They cannot rely on communities to police themselves. Unfortunately, the police and others are humans and it seems that some have stereotypical views. I think it's a form of racism to make allowances for suspects because of their ethnicity.

Some excerpts from Yvette speech to the HoC about Baroness report on "

"After I asked police forces in January to identify cases involving grooming and child sexual exploitation allegations that had been closed with no further action, more than 800 cases have now been identified for formal review.
And I expect that figure to rise above 1,000 in the coming weeks. . . .

And earlier this year, I also commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to undertake a rapid national audit of the nature, scale and characteristics of gang-based exploitation.
I specifically asked her to look at the issue of ethnicity, and the cultural and social drivers for this type of offending – analysis that had never previously been done despite years of concerns being raised. . . .

The findings of her audit are damning.
At its heart she identifies a deep-rooted failure to treat children as children. A continued failure to protect children and teenage girls from rape, from exploitation, and serious violence. And from the scars that last a lifetime.
She finds too much fragmentation in the authorities’ response, too little sharing of information, too much reliance on flawed data, too much denial, too little justice, too many criminals getting off, too many victims being let down. . . .

^But on the key issues of ethnicity that I had asked her to examine, she has found continued failure to gather proper robust national data, despite concerns being raised going back very many years. In the local data that the audit examined from 3 police forces they identify clear evidence of over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani-heritage men. And she refers to “examples of organisations avoiding the topic altogether for fear of appearing racist or raising community tensions”.

Mr Speaker, these findings are deeply disturbing.
But most disturbing of all, as Baroness Casey makes clear, is the fact that too many of these findings are not new.
As her audit sets out, there have been 15 years of reports, reviews, inquiries and investigations into these appalling rapes, exploitation and violent crimes against children – detailed over 17 pages in her report – but too little has changed.
We have lost more than a decade. That must end now.

Pressed post too soon, but for all those saying it is all Starmer's fault that nothing has been done, can I draw attention to

1) "there have been 15 years of reports, reviews, inquiries and investigations into these appalling rapes, exploitation and violent crimes against children"

2) and " I asked police forces in January to identify cases involving grooming and child sexual exploitation allegations that had been closed with no further action . . ."
3) and "I specifically asked her [Baroness Casey} to look at the issue of ethnicity, and the cultural and social drivers for this type of offending – analysis that had never previously been done despite years of concerns being raised . . . "

Starmer and the Labour government have been in position for a very short time, after years of a different party in power. Exactly WHO was not initiating action on this for fifteen years? Why should there be a call for a relatively new Prime Minister to resign over what his predecessors did not do, and why should HE be thought to have "known what was going on" but not THEM?

I'll add another (shorter!) quote from the speech - "Baroness Casey’s review also identifies prosecutions and investigations into perpetrators who are White British, European, African or Middle Eastern, just as Alexis Jay’s Inquiry concluded that all ethnicities and communities were involved in appalling child abuse crimes."

We have home-grown child abusers and rapists too. There is no monopoly by any one race or culture.

I've had no breakfast yet, and I'm still sitting here picking quotes out of a speech to precis them for posting.

Read the whole thing for yourselves at www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-caseys-audit-of-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2r2ejlvm1o "Key takeaways from grooming gangs report"

Thanks Elegran, that is a lot of research for us.

Thanks for posting these key points Elegran
Special thanks for the links. I’m going out but will read them later

Elegran

Pressed post too soon, but for all those saying it is all Starmer's fault that nothing has been done, can I draw attention to

1) "there have been 15 years of reports, reviews, inquiries and investigations into these appalling rapes, exploitation and violent crimes against children"

2) and " I asked police forces in January to identify cases involving grooming and child sexual exploitation allegations that had been closed with no further action . . ."
3) and "I specifically asked her [Baroness Casey} to look at the issue of ethnicity, and the cultural and social drivers for this type of offending – analysis that had never previously been done despite years of concerns being raised . . . "

Starmer and the Labour government have been in position for a very short time, after years of a different party in power. Exactly WHO was not initiating action on this for fifteen years? Why should there be a call for a relatively new Prime Minister to resign over what his predecessors did not do, and why should HE be thought to have "known what was going on" but not THEM?

Could it be that Sir Keir Starmer was Director of Public Prosecutions between 2008 and 2013, at a time when these grooming gangs were being investigated. The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to send these men for trial because the main victim was 'unreliable'. It was only when Nazir Afzai was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England and overturned The CPS's decision that these men were brought to book. Four of the abusers faced deportation as they had dual Pakistani/British citizenship but it was later revealed that they had renounced their Pakistani citizenship to avoid deportation. The ringleader is still in prison but the rest of these charmers are still living in the UK doing God knows what.
So Sir Keir did know what was going on long before he was PM.
Frankly, nobody from any political party comes away from this looking good.

Well, they can all begin to 'look good' by actually putting money and resources into implementing as as soon as they can, the recommendations of the report.

yanda

Lafegar.... Absolutely nothing about this is a joke.

Obviously not. Any human being with any shred of empathy feels a mixture of emotion at these heinous crimes. Anger, pity, disbelief and so on.

I don't think the blessed Tommy was one of the first to bring this into the public eye. He is a despicable human being and not somebody to be admired.

BBC Verify: What is Starmer's record on prosecuting grooming gangs? (January 2025)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgn2wvxx5qo

We can and should blame any political party for inaction on the grooming scandal in the past.

This report covers several governments and also KS’s time as director of public prosecutions.

From the late 1980s until 2013, group-based child sexual exploitation affected an estimated 1,400 girls, commonly from care home backgrounds, in the town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Between 1997 and 2013, girls were abused by grooming gangs of predominantly British-Pakistani men

What’s important now, instead of pointing the finger at each other for past failures, is for the current government to ensure that something is done and can be seen to be done and be effective.

We shouldn’t be hampered by the concern that it implicates a particular racial/religious group.
It is unfair on the majority who are not guilty either of the crime or of knowing it was going on and doing nothing.

However, you can’t show that it’s only a small fraction unless that fraction is dealt with and it stops happening.

lafergar

yanda

Lafegar.... Absolutely nothing about this is a joke.

Obviously not. Any human being with any shred of empathy feels a mixture of emotion at these heinous crimes. Anger, pity, disbelief and so on.

I don't think the blessed Tommy was one of the first to bring this into the public eye. He is a despicable human being and not somebody to be admired.

He wasn't the first by any means, but he soon realised that the issue was a stick with which to beat all Muslims.

Lafegar...I don't admire TR or think he's blessed if that's what you think...just saying there was some truth in what he said.

nanna8

petra

I know I’m not the only one remembering previous threads on this subject who were called racist for using the Asian/Pakistani/Muslim words in relation to this.
Those contributors are noticeable by their absence on this thread.

They probably left in disgust.

I'm not sure they all left of their own volition.

Primrose53

Oldwoman70

I am in full support of an enquiry - hopefully we will get a better result than the usual "lessons have been learned"

let’s hope Starmer resigns when the whole truth comes out and shows just how much he knew about what was going on. Most of the towns where this abuse went on are Labour towns and he didn’t want to upset the Muslim voters.

I'll attempt to reply more politely than previous replies to your post, but basically saying the same thing, Primrose.
This link gives the facts.

fullfact.org/online/starmer-muslim-grooming-prosecution-crime/

yanda

Lafegar...I don't admire TR or think he's blessed if that's what you think...just saying there was some truth in what he said.

He is vile. A criminal, an anti Islam activist.

Tommeh tells it as it is......er no

Re abuse in Huddersfield

It was during the second trial in May when the case was jeopardised by the actions of Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League