Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to crackdown on Britain’s grooming gangs after admitting “cultural sensitivity and political correctness” have prevented child abusers being brought to justice.
Speaking in Greater Manchester on Monday, Sunak said it was now his priority to “stamp out this evil,” as he announced new measures to tackle child exploitation gangs.
They include forming a new expert police-led taskforce, tougher sentencing, and a legal duty on those working with children to report abuse.
The prime minister was joined by Home Secretary Suella Braverman at the event in Rochdale, where they met with senior police officers, local authorities, and others who work in child abuse prevention.
Rochdale is one of the places synonymous with grooming gangs after the scandal surrounding the exploitation of girls in the town from 2008 to 2010.
Sunak told the meeting: “I said last year if I became prime minister I wanted to stamp out this evil. We can only do that if everyone is working together.
“And we’ve announced a suite of initiatives today to help us do that and we’ll do it with your help.”
Sunak added that grooming gang abuse was “still happening to too many of our young girls” and vowed to “root it out.”
“What happened to vulnerable girls here in Rochdale, but in Rotherham and Telford as well at the hands of grooming gangs was simply appalling,” he said.
British–Asian Gangs
The prime minister stopped short of repeating Braverman’s comments in a series of media interviews over the weekend surrounding British Pakistani men.The home secretary pointed to a “predominance of certain ethnic groups—and I say British Pakistani males—who hold cultural values totally at odds with British values, who see women in a demeaned and illegitimate way and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach in terms of the way they behave.”
Her language was criticised by some campaigners, with the NSPCC emphasising that just considering race could create new “blind spots.”
Asked on Monday if the focus on British–Asian grooming gangs was appropriate, Sunak said that “all forms of child sexual exploitation carried out by whomever are horrific.”
He then referred to several independent inquiries that looked at grooming gang abuse in Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford.
He said: “What is clear is that when victims and other whistle-blowers came forward their complaints were often ignored by social workers, local politicians, or even the police.
“The reason they were ignored was due to cultural sensitivity and political correctness. That is not right.”
The prime minister described the crimes as “horrific” and said the measures he has introduced “have been welcomed by people” including survivors.
Following the meeting with police and authorities, Sunak and Braverman met campaigners and grooming gang survivors including Sammy Woodhouse.
The Rotherham victim was sexually abused as a 14-year-old by ringleader Arshid “Ash” Hussain.
She was subjected to rape, assaults, and coercion with threats to kill her family at the hands of Hussain, and in 1999 at the age of 15, Woodhouse fell pregnant with the 25-year-old’s baby.
She told Twitter followers yesterday she was set to meet Braverman to discuss the new measures.
After the meeting, Woodhouse wrote on Twitter: “If we’re going to tackle exploitation, let’s do it properly.
“Victims are male and female from all upbringings and religions.
“Every single one of them matter and need a voice. Let’s give them a voice.”
No Numbers on Abusers
Asked on Monday whether he accepted that the government had been “slow to act” on tackling child sexual exploitation, Sunak said: “We’re responding to the recommendation of an independent inquiry to introduce a legal duty on those working with children to report abuse.“Now, it’s important that we get that right and we will work with all the agencies involved to make sure we implement that in a way that is practical and effective but it is right that we respond to the independent inquiry’s recommendation and I’m pleased that we’re putting that in place today.”
The prime minister said he does not know how many sex abusers operate in grooming gangs because “it’s not being reported” and conceded “we need to a better job.”
He told reporters that he hoped the new crackdown measures would make it easier for people to come forward about abuse.
Following the unveiling of Sunak’s plans, Downing Street rejected accusations that the government’s approach to tackling grooming gangs amounted to hard-right talking points and dog-whistle politics.
Sunak’s spokesman told reporters, “No, I think the prime minister thinks it’s right to be clear-eyed and to take an evidence-based approach and to not allow fear of political correctness to hold back taking action in this area.”
Asked whether ministers should be careful with their rhetoric on the issue, the official said: “Certainly it’s always right to use correct tone when talking about sensitive topics.
“Equally, the prime minister has been very clear that we must not shy away from calling out any type of harm to children wherever and whenever it occurs.”
‘Evidence-Based Approach’
Downing Street also defended Braverman’s comments singling out British Pakistani men over concerns about grooming gangs.The prime minister’s official spokesman insisted the government is taking an “evidence-based approach” to the issue.
“What she said was that some of these gangs were largely made up of British Pakistani men. I believe that is factually accurate,” the spokesman said.
“We are all familiar with these appalling cases, and in some of these a misplaced fear of being accused of racism led authorities to stand by and let the crimes happen. And the prime minister’s view is this should never be allowed to happen again.”
It found most group child sex offenders are men under the age of 30 and the majority are white.
Asked about the research, the Downing Street spokesperson said “it’s not possible to conclude, essentially make conclusions about characteristics because of the lack of data.”
“So what we want to do is take an evidence-based approach, use the data that has been gathered since April 2022 more effectively to help support the police in their task,” the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer echoed Sunak’s comments that political correctness should not “get in the way” of prosecuting grooming gangs.
Commenting on the government’s plans to crackdown on the issue, Starmer told LBC on Monday that “it is right that ethnicity should not be a bar, and political correctness should not get in the way of prosecutions.”
He added, “But the vast majority of sexual abuse cases do not involved those of ethnic minorities and so I am all for clamping down on any kind of case, but if we are going to be serious we have to be honest about what the overlook is.”
On plans for a duty to report incidents of grooming, Starmer claimed he “called for that in 2013.”
“That is 10 years ago and this government has been in power now for 13 years,” he told the radio station.
“That is a decade lost and I think the prime minister and others have to really explain why they have wasted that decade.”
