To be horrified at how much worse the "grooming gangs" actually were than I thought

The Leon Brittan allegations were made up by a complete fantasist called Carl Beech. https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2021/feb/10/leon-brittan-widow-intensifies-attack-on-met-over-false-sex-abuse-claims

I don't think that's true.
Even now the media call them "grooming gangs". A euphamism for public consumption.
Even rape is too mild a term for what was done. I read some of those transcripts on X and I can never unsee the image in my head. The deparivity of those men is beyond my imagination. None of those details were on the news or in the media.

I wonder if these horrific details have been released now, to further the 'schools keep children safe' agenda that is being pushed in UK media at the moment.

I think the bill restricting automatic right to home ed, is due to be read in parliament this week.

For me as a home ed parent, these kind of news stories just feed into my feelings that I cannot trust systems and agencies to keep my child safe from the evil predators in our society.

It's a good point, actually, that calling them 'grooming gangs' gives a rather sanitised impression. They are rape and torture gangs.

Absolutely this.
This fear of calling out specific groups of predatory men from cultures where women and girls are looked down upon and have few rights.

‘Rubbish. Leon Brittan was white. He was Home Secretary. Even during the 80s he was a well known child abuser and member of a paedophile ring, but it didn’t come out “officially” until after his death’

Fortunately for you, you cannot libel the dead.

I see nothing in that to suggest the police were trying to scare her.

You mean apart from her own words?

Eh, I’m not too sure about that. I think it’s partially true but also similar things are happening in higher circles (often involving policemen) so those in power didn’t want too much attention on the issue.

Now the attention is useful to distract from something else and so the story is being brought again after several years. I’ve been hearing about this on and off for years now.

Not to deny the hideousness of the situation, the suffering of those girls and women is unforgivable. There definitely should be a public inquiry, however I think there is more to it. In fact I would put money on some of the police being in on it in the first place.

Less than 1% of cases.
And in 99% of those cases it's at the instigation of a controlling man.

The other point to make is there is a religious element to this. Hindus and Sikhs were also targeted. Any non Muslim girl was considered "dirty" and therefore fair game; little girls from deprived areas were easy meat. It is according to the House of Lords, in every major city and runs into the hundreds of thousands in the last 25 years. And the head of the CPS who did not prosecute the grooming gangs is currently sitting in Number 10 in his designer glasses and Labour are refusing a national enquiry in order to protect him.

Can someone link a thread please to where I can read more?

I know someone from York, so not some dreadful backwater, whose DD was a victim. She comes from a typical middle-class family. The details are horrendous.
The police were so afraid of being branded racist that little, if any, action was taken. The victims were seen as practically asking for it They were seen as worthless, like adult sex workers, not vulnerable teens groomed by one older man. They'd think he was their BF, the love of their life...and then it began...

There's the whole issue of underfunding to social services that needs to be discussed here.
The "racial sensitivity" claptrap is a smokescreen.. and easy way to focus hate.
The problem is complicated. To me working in mental health it seems the biggest issue apparent from these cases is the extreme vulnerability of children in care and the bleakness of their outcomes
And obviously the ever present issue of male violence and predatory behaviour
But what I'd like to see more focus on is the state of kids in care.
There's a the larger issue of massive underfunding to all public services too.
On the one hand you've got people screaming about why weren't these kids protected?? Then on the other supporting a government that made massive cuts to all public services.
You think being more racist is going to help this situation? You think "being tougher on immigrants" is going to achieve something?
This is about poverty plain and simple.
These children were from incredibly disadvantaged backgrounds and were having very difficult lives to begin with.
Lured into these situations by attention and paltry free takeaways and petty cash.
What can we do going forward for children living in poverty?

I'm not surprised as I've followed the story for a number of years. It still shocks however. And it's ongoing to this day. That's what really gets me

The more I've thought about it over the years the more I think the lack of interest from MSM is because the girls are/were in care. They were gobby, rude, potty mouthed and abused from all quarters from the youngest ages and no one gave or gives a shit about them 😢😢😢

@OneAmberFinch A foster family near where we lived years ago chose to not take in teenage girls as they simply couldn’t keep the girls SAFE.

They were targeted outside of schools by men who could sniff out a vulnerable child at 100 paces.
They said girls would escape from windows to get to be with these “ Boyfriends “ who always has flashy cars .

Police couldn’t have cared less.

This was a very experienced foster family who actually legally adopted a couple of their foster children.

Oh please. The screams of racism are exactly what caused the cover up and enabled the continuation. Don’t you realise that this sort of apologia only stokes the flames you pretend to deplore?

I agree OP; whilst I did read the news at the time, I was not aware of the level of depravity until recently. The phrase grooming gangs does little to articulate what was going on so I definitely felt misled by that. I am not interested in the political arguments around this; my concern is with those who were abused and those who remain at risk.

I see nothing in that to suggest the police were trying to scare her. Surely the police would be criticised if they heard someone talking about crimes and did nothing? They are rightly criticised for times when they did nothing to bring men to justice but now when they try to follow up they get criticised too. She was obviously surprised to see them but there was no question of them arresting or warning her.

https://x.com/SAshworthHayes/status/1875535756531519934

Excellent article from the telegraph today linked in tweet

I remember talking to an Ofsted inspector about this, Maggie Oliver and the Three Girls drama over 7 years ago so most of the details were already out there but agree that certain sections of the media had very censored details available to Joe Public. I recall there was a lot of reporting when these men were finally on trial.

Anyone working in safeguarding and with children knew the horrors of what had happened.

An extract from the todays Telegraph article

I agree with you, certain cultures have very low attitudes to women, it's a fact, but what failed here was the British justice for not locking these guys for the rest of their life on time and protecting the community.

https://x.com/SAshworthHayes/status/1875535756531519934

I have linked an article here to a very powerful article from the Telegraph today. Glad to see them covering this. It's a national scandal & I feel it should be treated as a national emergency.