0:00
is that it is the mass industrial scale sexual assault and rape by anonymous unknown persons
0:10
and it's been going on across this country on a scale that is simply unimaginable
0:17
It has been going on for many, many decades. It has been going on for too long and there is a huge racial and ethnic dimension to it
0:28
A very large part of these crimes could be attributed to racism in its absolutely worst possible form
0:37
And yet this has been met by the collective establishment, and by that I mean social services, police, councillors, members of parliament, governments
0:48
by abject cowardice and willful and deliberate neglect. And I first became aware of the scale of this
0:58
2013. And people were coming up and telling me what had happened in that town, the scale upon which it had happened
1:05
And I have to say that initially I looked upon it all with a degree of disbelief
1:13
Nothing as large as this, nothing as appalling as this could have happened on this scale without it breaking as a massive public story beforehand
1:22
And by 2014, this was a national issue, one that had led to great anger in our country, and much of the rest of the world looking on in absolute horror
1:37
They simply couldn't fathom that something like this had happened in the United Kingdom
1:45
And yet ever since then, there have been a few inquiries, but very little has happened
1:50
This is a stain on our country in every way. It's one of the worst things I think that has ever happened
1:57
And there's strong evidence that it's still continuing, and much of it within a few miles of where I'm speaking to you now
2:08
As a political issue, well, can be bad enough, the leader of the opposition, can say what she likes
2:14
But as women's minister, for a period of two years, Not one single time did she raise this issue in the House of Commons
2:25
And as far as Labour are concerned, it's very, very clear they have absolutely no desire
2:31
for any serious inquiry to go ahead I spoke this morning to the former police officer Maggie Oliver who just about the only person who comes out well frankly from the last 20 years of all of this
2:46
and she made it pretty clear that Jess Phillips was in no way interested in meeting her at all
2:53
The inquiry is flawed, the inquiry will not work and we want today to offer perhaps a better
3:01
solution. This inquiry is dead in the water. Nearly five months have gone by and what has
3:06
happened? Nothing. They can't even agree who the chair is going to be. Starmer tells us that the
3:13
Baroness Casey report forbids it from being a judge. If you read the report carefully
3:18
you'll realise that simply isn't true, which, of course, is in common with very many of the things
3:24
that he says. Five gang victims, those that feel insulted, like Ellie, have withdrawn from the
3:36
inquiry. But you'll be told, ah, ah, there are five who insist that Jess Phillips stays in place
3:44
and that the inquiry continues. But here's the truth about the other five. Just as I said at the
3:53
start of this press conference. There are two very distinctly different groups of young
3:59
people who were sexually abused and raped by adults. And what has happened with this inquiry
4:06
is the government have quite deliberately, from the very start, widened the scope out
4:15
from those who were victims of Pakistani grooming gangs and brought in other women
4:24
And by the way, I'm not demeaning or diminishing in any way
4:29
the treatment that Samantha Walker and the other four have been through
4:35
I'm just pointing out they were victims, survivors now, of a very different kind of sexual abuse
4:46
And what the country demands, and indeed, indeed, what people like Ellie demand
4:54
is a laser focus on this very, very unique, and perhaps for many people, difficult to understand phenomenon
5:04
that has now been going on in our country for decades. My own view is the Government would like to simply kick the can down the road to hold a public inquiry that goes on for such a long time that it could be done or nothing before the next general election
5:23
You don't believe me? Well, have a look at the Covid inquiry, which goes on month after month, year after year
5:30
and which today, by the way, has just gone through £192 million in cost
5:36
making it even more expensive than a never-ending bloody Sunday inquiry. That is what we are in
5:44
I want to suggest, propose today, a better, quicker, more open and more transparent solution
5:55
The people of this country place their faith in elected politicians and in Parliament at every general election
6:05
although I think it would be fair to say that that level of trust and faith is probably at the moment at an all-time low
6:15
So what I want to do is to offer Parliament a chance to re-establish itself in the minds of people as a good, fair and just institution
6:27
It's time for Parliament to step up and to do its job
6:32
Do you remember back in 2009 when Sir Fred Goodwin was ordered to appear before the Banking Commission
6:42
A new committee that had been set up between the House of Commons and the House of Lords and Goodwin had to go to appear
6:51
And I just don't think we realise just how much power Parliament actually has if it chooses to use it
7:02
Select committees have the power to summon anybody. They could summon a former social worker
7:10
They could summon a former police officer. They could summon a former councillor
7:15
They could summon a former Member of Parliament. And I find it hard to believe that MPs in all of these constituencies
7:23
would not have had letters or emails or pointers as to what was going on
7:28
Because unlike the previous examples of sexual abuse that I've talked about, none of this
7:33
was being hidden. There were groups of up to a dozen plus men waiting around in takeaway
7:39
kebab shops, taxi shops. Everyone in these communities knew that something was happening
7:45
and that something was very very wrong So Parliament has that ability It also has the ability to sanction those if anybody refuses to appear It also has the power to require that people swear an oath
8:06
And the important thing about swearing an oath is that if what you say in that forum
8:13
is deliberately misleading or untrue, well then of course you could face prosecution for perjury
8:20
These are the extraordinary powers that Parliament has if it chooses to use it
8:27
And I am saying here is the most enormous opportunity for Parliament and indeed for this Government
8:34
to restore some public trust in the institution and those that currently inhabit it
8:42
on an issue that has been gnawing away at our public consciences for well over a decade
8:50
And I repeat the point to which the rest of the world looks on in shock and in horror
8:56
I will be with my colleagues meeting the Speaker this evening. I will put these points to him
9:03
I know that he himself is very keen to re-establish Parliament at the centre of our national debate in this country
9:11
and I will tomorrow write to Dame Karen Bradley, the chair of the Home Affairs Committee
9:17
suggesting a subcommittee is set up and yes, let's broaden it to a commission
9:23
and let's get those from the House of Lords who understand this subject involved as well
9:29
The advantages of this, well the first one is it can be done incredibly quickly
9:35
the second of this is it'll take place in what we still know as the mother of parliaments and
9:44
perhaps re-establish some trust in the institution and it will happen in the full glare of media
9:52
and it won't take years to conclude it will take many weeks it might take a couple of months but
9:59
so be it and it will have the power to put in the palace of Westminster those who are suspected
10:05
of colluding in the cover-up of one of the most shameful stories
10:11
in the history of our islands. And I'll be putting all of that to the speaker tomorrow
10:17
and I hope and expect to get other figures in public life
10:22
to come out and support this idea. It can happen quickly. Let's make it happen
