The Labour MP who represents the grooming hot spot of Rotherham, Sarah Champion, has performed a U-turn to demand a national inquiry into the scandal. The Telegraph has more.
Sarah Champion said that “nothing less than a national inquiry into the failings of those in authority to prevent and be accountable for their failings” would restore public faith.
Only a week ago the MP warned that an inquiry would mean “another 10 years of waiting”.
Her intervention comes just hours after Paul Waugh, the Labour MP for Rochdale – another grooming hot spot – called for a national probe.
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out an inquiry, saying it would last too long and would detract from the need to implement findings from a previous report into child sexual abuses.
In what has been described as the “biggest child protection scandal in U.K. history”, some 1,400 girls in Rotherham fell victim to grooming between 1997 and 2013. Most of the perpetrators were British Pakistanis.
On Monday afternoon, Ms. Champion said: “Child sexual abuse is endemic in the U.K. and needs to be recognised as a national priority.
“It is clear that the public distrusts governments and authorities when it comes to preventing and prosecuting child abuse, especially child sexual exploitation.
“The statistics on these crimes show the scale of the problem; the high level of public concern and mistrust only emphasises why addressing all forms of child abuse must be a Government priority.
“Having worked widely with victims and survivors, and front-line professionals, I have long believed that we need to fully understand the nature of this crime and the failures in the response of public bodies if we are to truly protect children.
“It is clear that nothing less than a national inquiry into the failings of those in authority to both prevent, and be accountable for their failings, in relation to grooming gangs will restore the faith in our safeguarding systems.”
Last week in the Commons, Ms Champion took the opposite view.
She said: “I say with the deepest respect to all those calling for a national inquiry to instead put all their energy into getting the recommendations adopted.
“With the best will in the world – you all know me; I am not making a party political point – another inquiry will mean another 10 years of waiting.
“What I want to see, and what I truly believe we all want to see, is child protection right now.”
In her statement on Monday afternoon, Ms Champion made five recommendations, all of which she said should occur concurrently.
She called on the Government to implement all of the recommendations from the Prof Alexis Jay inquiry into child sex abuse, with a timetable and ring-fenced resources.
The MP requested a national audit to see if “grooming gangs” are still operating, or whether cases have been missed, as well as a national inquiry into the failings of authorities over grooming gangs.
She also called for a new commission to look into the motivations of grooming gang members, alongside a review to ensure that the law is fit for purpose to protect children and prosecute child abusers.
She said: “Transparency and accountability need to be embedded into this process, with victims and survivors sitting at its heart.”
Worth reading in full.
Better late than never, though it would have had greater impact if she had added her voice to those calling for this last week.
Champion, of course, was famously forced to resign as Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary in 2017 after writing an article in the Sun warning that “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”.
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