Row over ‘watered down’ council letter sent to Prime Minister over grooming gangs

Tim Loughton: The Home Secretary loves to talk about action, but is loathe to take it

Tim Loughton was a Conservative MP from 1997 to 2024. He served as Children’s Minister, and was deputy chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2014 to 2024. Minutes before Parliament broke for the Easter recess last week, and two days after Safeguarding Minister Jess Philipps disgracefully sneaked out the announcement about watering down the Pakistani grooming gang enquiries, Yvette Cooper was wheeled out to defend the indefensible on…

Reader letter: 'Youngsters who were groomed deserve a full inquiry'

SIR - Sir Trevor Phillips (a former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and a past Labour member of the London Assembly) has lambasted the Government for its approach to grooming gang probes, describing it as "wholly shameful" after ministers were accused of watering down plans for local inquiries on the issue.

Fear of racism is simply not good enough - the grooming gangs scandal is an inexcusable stain - Bill Rammell

The grooming gang scandal is an inexcusable stain on our public authorities and our police and justice system. Men, predominantly within the Pakistani community, sought out white girls and systematically committed sexual assault, rape and abuse against them. What happened was shocking and unacceptable, and too many in authority turned a blind eye to what was happening because the evil perpetrators were from ethnic minorities. They didn’t want to…

Row over ‘watered down’ council letter sent to Prime Minister over grooming gangs

Conservatives on Stockton Council have accused the ruling Labour group of “watering down” a letter to the Government.