0:00
Well, this is really, really concerning because on the Home Affairs Select Committee, which I sit on in the House of Parliament, we interviewed Tom Crowver-Casey, who was referenced by the Home Secretary way back in January as being the independent appointee by the government to design the framework for these five local inquiries that the Home Secretary announced
0:22
But we heard from him just this week that he had had no interaction or very minimal at best from the Home Secretary to the extent that he had to contact the Home Secretary to find out what was going on
0:37
And then we find out that the Home Secretary is not proceeding with him designing the framework
0:41
Indeed, her and her advisers will do that. Now, that really worries me because this is Labour ministers taking control
0:48
This therefore makes it not independent at all. And also, they have announced that the £5 million that has been allocated to these five local inquiries is effectively going to be watered down for that money being spent on other things
1:04
Now, that is not satisfactory at all and just leads to my concern that this is just a sham by this government and will lead to more smoke and mirrors on this issue
1:13
Now Robbie it was heartening to see that the Conservative leader Kemi Baden this week sat down with my colleague Charlie Peters inspired by his reporting as many of us have been The Conservative Party will now be pushing
1:26
for a full statutory inquiry. Could have done that in power, to be fair, in 14 years
1:32
That wasn't done, but nevertheless, let's focus on the positives. You're going to do it
1:37
Now, yet it's likely, Robbie, the Labour Party will vote that down
1:42
What happens next? Well, this is a really important amendment that the Conservative Party will be putting forward in the Police and Crime Bill, quite rightly, which will put every Labour MP in a position of having to vote for our amendment
1:57
It is right, as we have been advocating for, to have a national statutory based rape gang inquiry, because, you know, I've been advocating to have this in Keefley, where I represent and across the wider Bradford district, where I've consistently made concerns around the Bradford district, dwarfing the scale of this issue, this absolutely horrendous crime on any other town that's already been investigated
2:22
But when there are approximately 50 towns that are being referenced as having this level of crime taking place, it is right that we have that statutory national inquiry so we can try and provide that reassurance to those victims, those survivors, and lead to proper justice being delivered
