Statement on grooming gang prosecution

I want to pay tribute to the bravery of ‘Girl A’ and ‘Girl B’ the two victims of this horrific abuse by a Pakistani-heritage rape gang that operated in Rochdale. The women’s courage in giving evidence puts their cowardly abusers to shame.

I also want to thank the police and prosecutors and those who supported the survivors throughout this lengthy court process. The message to abusers is clear: we will find you and you will be punished, no matter how long ago you committed these barbaric offences.

These are disgusting crimes and I trust the court will impose tough sentences that match the severity of these offences.

All Rochdalians, whatever their background, want to see these sex offenders prosecuted swiftly and punished harshly. Families of Pakistani heritage are as outraged by these perverts as any other, and many are furious that they risk tarnishing their whole community.

Andy Burnham’s independent inquiry into what happened in Rochdale in the 2000s exposed appalling failures by the council and police. Crucially, that led to more criminal investigations, arrests, and prosecutions.

There is a wider point too. The prosecution in court said the abuse had taken place ‘under the noses of social workers and others who should have done far more to protect them’.

We need to hold to account anyone who had any role in allowing crimes like these to happen. Whether we do that through a national inquiry into rape gangs or through local inquiries like the one in Rochdale, the inquiries need statutory powers to force witnesses to appear before them.

And they should follow the evidence, wherever it leads them. No political party, no council, no police officer, no social worker, no racial group should be exempt from the need to find the facts.

I was pleased that the Government commissioned a national audit, led by Baroness Louise Casey, to uncover the scale and racial profile of group-based child sexual abuse offending in the UK today. That review is due soon and I hope that its findings are acted upon swiftly.