Meeting with grooming victims 'shocking' - Badenoch - Voice of Asia

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch met with survivors of the Oldham and Rotherham sex grooming gangs, describing the meeting as "quite shocking." In an interview with GB News, Badenoch stated that the victims' experiences of repeatedly seeking help from authorities were "extraordinary," with one case involving police "handing a 12-year-old girl back to her abuser."

Badenoch has been calling for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs but has faced criticism after reports that she had not met with any victims. On Monday, Rotherham's Labour MP Sarah Champion also joined the calls for a full inquiry, stating that "only then can we restore confidence in our safeguarding systems."

Speaking on GB News on Monday evening, Badenoch said she "will do everything we can, and the Conservative Party will do everything we can, to make sure that you [survivors] get justice." When asked why previous Conservative governments had not commissioned an inquiry into the grooming gangs, she explained, "I think we thought at the time that the inquiries that we had launched were sufficient." She added, "I thought, 'oh, there's an inquiry going on, let's see what comes out of it,' but what we saw is that we had multiple non-national inquiries. That is not enough. Let's do more."

Badenoch believes that a new national inquiry should focus on what she described as "systemic patterns of behavior" within certain communities in the country. She noted that the backgrounds of these individuals are often "very poor, a bit like peasant backgrounds—very, very rural, almost cut off from the home countries that they may have come from." She also added that "they are not necessarily first-generation immigrants." She believes that the nation needs to address the "culture of silence."

Between 1997 and 2013, multiple areas across the country, including Oldham and Rotherham, were targeted by predominantly Pakistani-origin male gangs who raped and trafficked children as young as 11 years old. In 2014, an independent report by Professor Alexis Jay estimated that 1,400 girls in Rotherham had been abused. Professor Jay later led the seven-year Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and made 20 recommendations. Professor Jay has previously stated that victims want to see her recommendations implemented and have rejected calls for a fresh inquiry.

Between 2020 and 2024, a series of local reviews into child sexual abuse were also published in Manchester, Rochdale, and Oldham, finding that authorities had failed to protect children from sexual exploitation by predominantly Asian male gangs. In recent weeks, the Conservative Party and Reform UK have been calling for a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs. Earlier this month, MPs voted against a Conservative motion to force a new national inquiry.

When asked if the lack of a national inquiry was due to the possibility of politicians being implicated in cover-ups and whether Labour was resisting an inquiry, Badenoch stated, "That is definitely something that we need to look at." She said, "I don't understand why, when there is so much support, even from their own MPs... more and more Labour people are coming forward, we cannot have a culture of fear." She also emphasized, "I am not afraid, the Conservative Party under new leadership. What we did before to address this was clearly not enough, we need to do more, and Labour needs to come on board. If they don't, I think they will have a very serious problem with the electorate when an election comes."

Rochdale's Labour MP also joined calls for a new full inquiry on Monday, stating that child sexual abuse is "endemic" in the UK and must be treated as a "national priority." Champion, who has long worked on child protection, stated, "I've always believed that if we are really going to protect children, we need to fully understand the nature of this crime and the failures of public bodies in response." She also called for "the full implementation of the recommendations of the IICSA report, with a timeline and dedicated resources."

Two other Labour figures from affected areas—Rochdale MP Paul Waugh and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham—have also called for a limited new inquiry. However, Downing Street has stated that its priority is to implement the recommendations of the IICSA report published in 2022. Last week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that one of the key recommendations of the report—mandatory reporting—would be added to the Crime and Policing Bill. Downing Street said on Monday that there would be "a range of views" on the question of a new inquiry and that the government would be "guided and led by victims and survivors."