Joining the dots: why we need a public inquiry into the Pakistani rape and torture gangs

We must not indulge those who want to 'move on' from the scandal for political reasons

It is difficult to fully comprehend the enormity of the so-called ‘grooming gang’ scandal. I say ‘so-called’ because the term ‘grooming gang’ does not come close to capturing the exact nature of the vile criminal acts that took place, or the particular characteristics of those who committed them. In that respect, the usage of this inexplicit term is symbolic of the wider attempt by some to obscure the full truth of these crimes.

Let us give these groups their correct name: they were rape and torture gangs. Their members systematically targeted underage girls – many of them from troubled backgrounds – and violated them in unimaginable ways for their own sexual gratification. The gangs were comprised largely of men of Pakistani origin and, in most cases, the victims were chosen because they were white. So the perpetrators were racists as well as paedophiles.

The whole affair has been thrust into the spotlight in a big way in recent days, principally on account of the intervention of Elon Musk. The billionaire owner of X has used that platform to highlight the depth of the scandal and to accuse the ‘legacy media’ in Britain of having ‘covered up’ the crimes. He has also aimed both barrels at public figures and bodies who, he alleges, were ‘complicit’.

Whatever one thinks of Musk, the pungency of his remarks, or whether his ire is always directed at the right individuals, it is undeniable that his main point has an underlying merit. While the mainstream media did report the court proceedings in each case, many outlets did not afford the stories anything like the prominence they merited. Neither did these outlets make mention of – still less attempt to initiate any serious debate around – the clear patterns that had emerged in respect of the ethnicities and cultural backgrounds of the perpetrators and their prey, or what the scandal said about the wider issues of immigration, integration and multiculturalism in our society.

With some creditable exceptions, the media reports were often little more than perfunctory. Worse, some publications and commentators went to great lengths to deny that there was any sort of ethnic or cultural dimension to the crimes at all. The BBC and Channel 4 even commissioned documentaries which focused exclusively on highly-exceptional cases where false allegations of sexual abuse had been made. The BBC production won a Bafta.

Compare this with what might have been the approach if the gangs had been comprised of mainly white men and the victims almost exclusively young Asian girls. Most likely the reportage and commentary would have been far more extensive.

Contrast it also with the sustained and frenzied media coverage of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd. Or the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Or any number of other racially-motivated crimes. Or the Windrush deportations scandal. Are we not entitled to ask why some victims, and those who protest about them, are deemed worthy of greater attention than others?

Musk is also correct to point out that some who were in positions of authority when the rape and torture gangs were doing their evil deeds have serious questions to answer. Too many were evidently more concerned about maintaining harmonious community relations than they were about speaking up over the obvious and growing trend of Pakistani men inflicting appalling suffering on white girls. Others were simply asleep at the wheel. As with the media, there appeared a systemic disinclination to identify patterns of behaviour or consider questions of ethnicity or culture. As Kemi Badenoch said earlier this week when calling for a full national inquiry into the gangs, ‘Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years, but no-one in authority has joined the dots.’

An inquiry, which reported in 2022, into child sexual exploitation in the Shropshire town of Telford found that around 1,000 children were abused after criminal evidence was ignored by key agencies. Some agencies blamed the children themselves. Teachers and social workers were discouraged from reporting the abuse, and police officers did not properly investigate allegations because of ‘nervousness about race’.

A report into events in Rochdale, where children as young as 12 were gang-raped above takeaway shops, found that victims ‘were left at the mercy of their abusers because of an inadequate response by GMP [Greater Manchester Police] and children's social care…’ While in Rotherham, where around 1,400 girls were sexually abused, council staff were, according to the findings of a report compiled by inspector Louise Casey, ‘clearly anxious about being branded racist’. Casey added that ‘There was also a clear perception among senior [council] officers that the ethnic dimension of CSE [child sexual exploitation] in Rotherham was taboo.’

Victims in other cities and towns across England were subjected to similar acts of depravity by Pakistani men, only to later meet with indifference, incompetence or hostility on the part of authorities. We may never know the true numbers of victims and perpetrators.

All of which means that we have witnessed a massive and unforgiveable failure by state and non-state institutions to protect thousands of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. I’m not sure it gets more serious.

In resisting the call for a fresh national inquiry, the government has pointed to a previous inquiry conducted by Professor Alexis Jay. But that inquiry, whose findings were published in 2022, had a very wide ambit and focused on child exploitation generally and in a range of settings (the Roman Catholic church being one, for example). Its focus on rape gangs – or what it termed ‘organised networks’ – was extremely narrow and barely scratched the surface of the controversy, let alone delve into the deeper questions of ethnicity and culture. Some of the towns where the highest levels of abuse took place did not even feature in the report.

The government also says it wants to continue the practice of local authorities commissioning their own inquiries (home office minister Jess Phillips’s recent decision to reject Oldham council’s call for a national inquiry on these grounds helped, in fact, to reignite the whole controversy). ‘There comes a point where we don’t need more inquiries,’ health minister Andrew Gwynne told LBC. But this approach is profoundly mistaken. Local authorities cannot be left to address these matters with their own resources and in isolation from each other. We need an overarching national public inquiry into the whole scandal of Pakistani rape and torture gangs operating across England. The terms of reference for such an inquiry must include specific consideration of matters relating to ethnicity and cultural background and whatever relevance these things had in the execution of these crimes.

For many on the liberal left in particular, the whole issue of the rape and torture gangs is uncomfortable territory. That’s why they have set their faces against a national public inquiry: they know that a no-holds barred review of this kind risks exposing some of the real-world effects of the hard multiculturalism they have long promoted and eroding what remains of public support for it. Whenever anyone within their own ranks speaks out, their backs go up. One need only look, for example, at what happened to the likes of Labour MPs Ann Cryer (since retired) and Sarah Champion after they bravely raised the issue of Pakistani gangs operating in their constituencies in the north of England. In both cases, their courage attracted not admiration from colleagues, but sheer hostility.

The treatment of Cryer and Champion, and the general refusal to afford this scandal the close examination it merits, shows a deeply skewed sense of priorities among certain sections of the left. The same people who threw their weight behind the #MeToo campaign are suddenly content to soft pedal when it comes to the mass abuse of vulnerable working-class girls.

But the case for a national public inquiry is unanswerable, and the demands are certain to grow. We cannot indulge the squeamishness of those who are frightened of what might happen if the full and unvarnished truth is exposed. If we can hold public inquiries into phone hacking and undercover policing, we can certainly hold one into the mass abuse of children by Pakistani rape and torture gangs. It’s time to start joining the dots.

---

A reminder that you can follow me on X/Twitter: @PaulEmbery