by Michael Deacon, Telegraph
Instead of a national inquiry, we’re getting a patchwork of council cover-ups – true justice seems further away than ever
Back in January, when the grooming gangs scandal so inconveniently returned to the political spotlight, I spent quite some time contemplating the following scenario.
Imagine that the roles in this scandal had been reversed. Imagine that, for many years, in scores of towns across this country, gangs composed of white, British, predominantly Christian men had specifically targeted Muslim girls. And imagine that, while raping these countless thousands of Muslim girls, the white, British, predominantly Christian gangs had called them “Muslim sl–s” and “Muslim wh—s”.
In response to such a horrific scandal, what do we think this Labour government would have done? Surely it would, quite rightly, have launched a full, national, public inquiry, wouldn’t it?
No doubt many people will reply that the answer is yes. After lengthy reflection, though, I disagree. I think there would have been no inquiry at all – for the simple reason that holding one would have been impossible.
Because, had the scandal above actually taken place, and then been exposed, our country would now be an uninhabitable smoking ruin.
Back in the real world, however, the mass rape of white working-class girls did not lead to nationwide violence. But it did leave an awful lot of unresolved anger. Anger which is only likely to grow – now that true justice suddenly seems further away than ever.
It was bad enough in January, when Labour rejected widespread demands for a full, national, public inquiry – and instead promised five measly local inquiries. Yet on Tuesday afternoon, we discovered that even those meagre sops may be denied us. Because, at the last possible moment before the Easter parliamentary recess, the Government slipped out a statement, announcing that it will instead adopt a “flexible approach” – meaning that, if the relevant councils don’t fancy an inquiry, they can choose to spend the allocated funds in some other, “more bespoke” way.
Read also: What is Labour doing to fix the grooming gangs scandal? by David Shipley, Spectator
Labour has failed the victims of ‘grooming gangs’ again by Hardeep Singh, Spectator
Labour’s grooming gangs position is contemptible by Stephen Pollard, Spectator
The moment in the ‘grooming gangs’ debate that shamed Jess Phillips by Brendan O’Neill, Spectator