An all-encompassing vote was recently held in Oldham, where councillors unanimously decided to push for a statutory public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town. The call for this inquiry came after the government declined a similar inquiry, leading to increased concerns by the local Conservative Group. They believed that a judge-led review would hold more authority compared to the current local inquiry in place. The motion for a statutory inquiry, which would mandate witnesses to provide evidence, received a positive response from the public gallery, with shouts of “Finally.”
Conservative Councillor Lewis Quigg, the initiator of the motion, emphasized the necessity of a judge-led statutory inquiry to address the injustices that have taken place. He emphasized the importance of exposing the “national scandal of children who have been abused in some of the most evil acts.” Leader of the local Conservative group, Councillor David Arnott, echoed these sentiments, stating that the issue had lingered over the borough for far too long, with the council repeatedly failing to prevent ongoing abuses. Following a lengthy debate with various amendments to the motion, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that the vote was met with mixed reactions from councillors.
In Telford, a previous inquiry uncovered that up to 1,000 girls had experienced abuse over a span of 40 years, with certain cases being overlooked due to concerns regarding race. A recent report examining child sexual exploitation in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 found failures from both Greater Manchester Police and Oldham Council in adequately safeguarding children. While there was no evidence of a cover-up involving grooming gangs, the importance of seeking justice and rooting out criminals from the community was emphasized by Oldham Group Councillor Abdul Wahid. He highlighted the need to address organized criminals of various backgrounds and the collective responsibility of communities and institutions in allowing these crimes to persist. Wahid stressed that the victims were let down by an array of entities, including police, social services, and politicians, underscoring the urgency of addressing these systemic failures
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
