0:00
I'm staggered by this U-turn, Charlie
0:02
Not that it's not welcomed, because of course it is, because all right-minded people were saying
0:07
this needs to be looked at on a national scale. It's the fact that it's gone from being jumping
0:12
on a far-right bandwagon, if you were calling for this, to now saying, yes, we must have it
0:17
Yeah, from the far-right to government policy in just five months, it's quite the change. However, I would say, while it's politically difficult
0:23
for Sir Keir Starmer to make that shift, the more difficult question for him, I think, is actually
0:29
why has it taken Baroness Casey's report? It's going to be absolutely damning when it comes out
0:34
possibly as early as tomorrow morning. But I think what will be in that report
0:38
is stuff that journalists have been able to tell this government and previous governments for many years
0:44
We produced an investigation two years ago that found that over 50 different towns and cities
0:49
have been affected by this scourge. We have been relentless in revealing cover-ups
0:53
political failures, police investigations that have gone awry. As recently as April, we spoke to a former police officer in Bradford who said that he was threatened with arrest when he tried to raise concerns about this issue
1:06
Last week, we had another bit of survivor testimony, someone coming forward and showing their horrendous ordeal in Telford where there hadn't been sufficient action
1:15
So there's just been relentless information showing how widespread this failure has been
1:19
Why has it taken Katie to change this? Since this announcement, you've had even more contacts from people who said
1:25
now maybe I have got the courage to speak out And I think that one of the most reassuring things about this announcement Obviously there is a great feeling that justice delayed is justice denied Many of the women and girls involved in this horrifying ordeal they wait up to 20 years sometimes longer
1:41
to get justice for their abuse. Two days ago, seven men were found guilty at Minchell Street
1:47
Crown Court in Manchester for abuse that started in 2001. They will get heavy prison sentences
1:52
in just a few weeks, I expect. However, for those survivors who were failed at that time
1:58
a lot of questions still haven't been answered. Why did, for example, a 10-year-old girl who was part of that trial
2:04
girl A, why was she described by social workers as a prostitute
2:08
when concerns were first raised? That in itself is... 10 years old. And why have those social workers never faced sufficient action
2:16
That is the question at the heart of this, because we've had some prosecutions, 400, I think, since 2000
2:21
We've had one deportation since 2011, but more action needs to be taken. I'll tell you what strikes me with all of this is there's vast amounts of stuff
2:29
from over the last few decades to get through on this, but it is also the fact that we know it is still going on
2:37
When we released that investigation two years ago with the 50 different towns and cities
2:41
the then government, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman at the time, they launched a grooming gangs task force on the back of what we'd uncovered
2:48
It made over 1,000 arrests in its first year. And people keep saying, oh, this is an issue of the past, Rotherham was the late 90s
2:55
No, no, this is a pattern of abuse that has never been properly dealt with. That's why this channel and so many other outlets have been focusing on it so intensely
