“I cannot tell you how cross I am about it,” Sir Trevor Phillips, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, declared in a blistering condemnation of the government’s handling of the grooming gang crisis. His words, dripping with justified fury, echo the sentiments of millions who have watched in horror as successive administrations have failed to protect some of the most vulnerable girls in our society. Sir Trevor’s assessment that the government’s response is “utterly, utterly shameful” is not just a critique—it’s a damning indictment of a system that has repeatedly turned its back on victims, prioritising political expediency over justice.
For years, the scourge of grooming gangs—more accurately described by J.K. Rowling as “rape gangs”—has cast a dark shadow over towns like Rochdale, Rotherham, Telford, and Oldham. These are not isolated incidents but a systemic failure, one that has seen thousands of young, often working-class girls subjected to unimaginable horrors: rape, torture, and threats of murder. The perpetrators, many of whom have been identified as predominantly Pakistani-heritage men in numerous inquiries, have operated with impunity, emboldened by the inaction of local councils, police forces, and, most disgracefully, the government itself. The Hansard record from January 6, 2025, lays bare the scale of this failure, noting the “deep concern about the scale of the hidden abuse and about the total failure of institutions to respond.” Yet, despite this acknowledgment, the government’s response remains woefully inadequate.
Let’s be clear: this is not a new problem. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which cost the previous government over £150 million over seven years, included a two-year investigation into grooming gangs and organised child exploitation. It confirmed what survivors and whistleblowers have been screaming for decades: institutions failed to act, whether in care homes in Rochdale, faith organisations, or even family homes. The inquiry’s findings should have been a clarion call for action. Instead, the government has dithered, deflected, and dodged responsibility, leaving survivors to fend for themselves while perpetrators walk free. The fact that further work is only now being “taken forward” in places like Oldham is a slap in the face to victims who have waited years for justice.
And then there’s Jess Phillips, the Labour MP who has built a public persona as a champion of women and girls. Every year, Phillips takes to the Commons to read out the names of women killed by men—a gesture she describes as an “honour” but one that leaves her “weary and tired.” On February 29, 2024, she told a near-empty chamber that she is “tired that women’s safety matters so much less” than small boats in parliament. Fine words, but where is her outrage for the girls raped by grooming gangs?
Why does her annual ritual of remembrance exclude the names of the countless young girls—some as young as 11—whose lives have been shattered by systematic abuse? Phillips’ refusal to even support an inquiry into the Oldham rape gangs, as reported by The Telegraph on January 2, 2025, is nothing short of hypocrisy.
Here is a self-proclaimed feminist who has railed against men’s violence against women, yet when it comes to the most heinous, organised abuse of young girls, she washes her hands of responsibility. Phillips’ claim that it’s up to the council to decide on an inquiry is a cowardly cop-out, one that plays directly into the hands of those who suspect Labour politicians are more concerned with their careers than with justice.
As The Telegraph pointed out, there is a “large, angry constituency” that believes Labour would rather “sacrifice the lives and safety of young white girls for the sake of their parliamentary careers.” Phillips’ inaction only fuels this suspicion. Her selective activism—happy to read out names when it suits her narrative, but silent on the victims of rape gangs—reeks of political posturing. If she truly cared about women’s safety, she’d be leading the charge for a nationwide inquiry, not hiding behind platitudes.
The government’s broader failure is equally egregious. The Hansard record highlights the “horrific abuse of children by grooming gangs” in Rochdale, compounded by failures from local councils and police. Yet, instead of decisive action, we get empty promises. The government claims it is “determined to act,” strengthening laws and supporting police action, but where is the evidence? Why has it taken so long for Oldham to even begin addressing its own failures? And why, as Sir Trevor Phillips so rightly points out, does the government continue to treat child rape as a political football rather than the “appalling crime” it is? The suspicion lingers that some in power fear the consequences of a full inquiry—particularly the impact on “community relations” if the ethnic backgrounds of perpetrators are highlighted. This fear, as noted in The Telegraph, is a betrayal of the victims, who deserve justice regardless of the political fallout.
Let’s not forget the chilling words of Labour MP Naz Shah, who once reposted a tweet suggesting that abused girls in Rotherham should “shut their mouths for the good of diversity.” That sentiment, whether Shah intended it or not, encapsulates the moral rot at the heart of this crisis. The government’s refusal to confront the issue head-on—whether through fear of being labelled racist or a desire to protect its multicultural dogma—has left a generation of girls to suffer.
Sir Trevor Phillips, a man who has long championed community and solidarity, is right to call this shameful. It’s a betrayal of the values that should define us as a nation.
The government must stop hiding behind inquiries and half-measures. It must launch a full, nationwide investigation into grooming gangs, no matter how uncomfortable the findings may be. It must hold institutions accountable, from local councils to police forces, and ensure that survivors are heard and supported. And it must call out the hypocrisy of figures like Jess Phillips, who claim to fight for women while ignoring the cries of the most vulnerable. Anything less is a disgrace—a stain on the conscience of a government that has failed its people in the most profound way imaginable.
