A lack of trust is empowering Britain’s extremists
by Ian Acheson, CapX:
What can recent developments in the scandal over child sexual exploitation tell us about our dangerous descent into a low trust society? Two Labour MPs have now broken ranks to contradict the leadership and say a national inquiry into child rape grooming gangs is now needed. Many people will not have heard of Dan Carden, but Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, is Red royalty and his intervention will matter.
Whether this was an attack of conscience or cynical opportunism is a subject for another time. But in his defence, Burnham did initiate an independent review of the police response to child sexual exploitation in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale in 2017. The results of this review are wearily familiar to anyone following this grotesque phenomenon. A failure by police to apprehend predominantly Pakistani-heritage perpetrators for fear of racism. A failure of social services who were aware of the abuse to protect children at risk. An abject failure of the local authority to resource support for teenage girls who were not taken seriously, sometimes even treated as the problem and subsequently violated again. Dozens of white children with ruined lives burned on the pyre of institutional cowardice and political correctness.
Despite many criticisms of his local inquiry, Burnham correctly summarised the challenge in response to the findings: ‘It is only by facing up fully and unflinchingly to what happened that we can be sure of bringing the whole system culture change needed when it comes to protecting children from abuse.’
The Prime Minister’s view on this seems to be woefully out of step with public outrage in general and Burnham’s prescription in particular. Far from unflinching, Keir Starmer has accused those now highlighting the need for a national inquiry as jumping on a far-right ‘bandwagon’. His ministers are forced to repeat a line which says implementation of recommendations from the previous national review of child sexual exploitation led by Professor Alexis Jay was more than sufficient to allay public concern.