What Lucy Powell’s Grooming Gang Comments Tell Us About Labour

 It should be a political no-brainer. The ‘grooming gangs’ scandal is as grotesque and shameful a blight on any country’s legacy as could be envisaged. The Government should be eager to instigate an immediate inquiry into what went wrong. Any delay would surely be unfathomable. And yet here we are.

The report by Professor Alexis Jay in 2022 confirmed the extent of the rape and torture of young girls – more than 1,400 victims, and doubtless many more yet to be discovered – and that the fear of being branded as ‘racist’ had prevented those in authority from acting sooner. The Labour Party apparently wants us to forget all about it and move on. Worse still, it seems intent on repeating the same mistake that the report highlighted, by throwing around accusations of racism against those who raise concerns.

This attitude seemed to be encapsulated during an exchange between writer Tim Montgomerie and leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell on the last edition of Any Questions on BBC Radio 4. Montgomerie had asked Powell if she had seen the programme on Channel 4 about the abuse in the north of England, to which Powell replied: “Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Yeah, okay, let’s get that dog whistle out, shall we? Yeah.”...<<<Read More>>>...