Contributions
1,528 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Child Rape GangsAs my hon. Friend points out, I have spoken to and worked with victims of crime for many years. What they want, fundamentally, is for the things that happened to them not to…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI will answer the question of when. The framework for what local authorities will be tasked with will be released later in May, as will Baroness Casey’s review, which I have…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsGroup-based grooming, which includes some terrible examples of British children being groomed from abroad and vice versa, is something that we are acutely aware of. Whether it…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsOf course I agree. I want the perpetrators to be held accountable. What I can say without any doubt is that, as local inquiries have told us, people have covered things up,…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsThank you.28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsAbsolutely, and I say with the voice of the victims I have worked with over the years and have spoken to even today that the fundamental that they want is that children who come…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI absolutely do not expect it to do that. Baroness Casey is seeking to do an audit of the problem profiles around the country, looking at exactly where the data does or does not…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI will check the record and make sure, but what I am absolutely certain of is the number of times that Telford council wrote and asked. I am aware that Rotherham, Rochdale,…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI commend my hon. Friend’s work, and I know she is coming to see me with some of those healthcare workers. Sara Rowbotham—a woman I know well who works in sexual health…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI appreciate that that is where the whole story began for the hon. Gentleman, but it is not where the whole story began. Oldham council had written, I believe, twice before to the…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI want to be clear that local inquiries must be independent. The chair of Telford inquiry was independent, and Professor Alexis Jay chaired the Rotherham inquiry. They are…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. I wish to see people who covered this up held accountable within the law and the frameworks that exist. If people have concerns about…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsThe grooming gangs taskforce will work with local police force areas. The whole point is that it works operationally with local police forces to ensure best practice. That has led…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI delight in the hon. Gentleman’s interest, and what I would say to every single Member of this House is that I will work with absolutely anybody to make this better. I am more…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsAbsolutely. There are systemic problems with how women and girls are treated, and sometimes cover-ups are ignored. I am afraid to say that there is still a cultural sense of women…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI absolutely agree. I remember working in a Rape Crisis centre when the Jimmy Savile scandal was revealed and it was like being hit by a tsunami—the phone lines lit up. As I said…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsAs I said, I will consider the situation as it unfolds. What I would say is with the amount of money that the Government are allocating for local inquiries— [ Interruption. ] From…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsWe have committed to five, but I expect to go further.28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s desire to always be respectful. I shall pay it back in kind and say that there is absolutely no way that the Government wish for the past to be…28 Apr 2025HANSARD Child Rape GangsI will wait for the review being undertaken by Baroness Casey and look at what it tells me, and then I will act on that.28 Apr 2025