Rape Gang Enquiry First Public Hearing

GB news has had coverage, but they're the exception.
It will be interesting to see if they continue the 3 monkeys 'hear no evil' routine when the report is published.

Even with a media blackout, we have reached tens of millions. We have made real progress.
x.com/i/status/2022035273333305668

We know that. To call the testimonies of victims a stunt is pretty low.
It is actually a victim led inquiry hence Sammy Woodhouse' s involvement.

This is NOT the public inquiry. This is a stunt by Reform. Do you really imagine the public, judge-led inquiry would have an X handle like that?

https://x.com/i/status/2022671642627838074

The truth about grooming gangs must be faced, however uncomfortable.
Huge credit to @fionagoddarduk for the extraordinary bravery she’s shown in telling her harrowing story.
I’ve been following the @rapeganginquiry closely, and the courage of survivors and family members, including @MarlonTag, is overwhelming.
Earlier in the week members of my justice team and the parliamentary party supported the inquiry.
Conservatives will continue to fight for justice and truth.

Yes I understand that. The point of my question wasn't to defend the BBC but to clarify whether or not there has been widespread silence from the mainstream media about it in the UK.

And if yes, my next question is whether the UK mainstream media has chosen to not to report it or whether there are there restrictions in place? (I'm not saying you can answer that, it's a general question.)

The idea of the BBC serving its entire audience is thought laughable by most people.

No, not just the BBC but the BBC has a specific duty to report things in the public interest. A duty they are completely failing at doing.

Don't pay the TV license!

And in response to previous queries - information on the testimony that can be at this point released (with consent of survivors and also bearing in mind legal advice about not prejudicing trials) is not only on X but also facebook.

It's not the fault of the inquiry that the mainstream media in the UK (but as noted not in other countries) is failing to report on this.

Yes I don’t think they are either but I didn’t know about these court records.

Are they though? The survivors have no faith in what they wanted to do before. I think personally they're hoping they can endlessly kick the can down the road. Deeds not words.

As a PP said it speaks volumes that survivors would speak to Lowe's enquiry but walked out on the Government one.

Some MPs have attended the Rape Gang Inquiry, good for them. So the media are even worse than our elected representatives here and specifically the BBC which is supposed to be a public broadcaster and supposed to report in the public interest.

And let's be clear, this is not the UK's Epstein scandal, it's far, far worse and on a far bigger scale. This is not to diminish the crimes of Epstein which were harrowing and terrible.

So why the BBC is endlessly talking about Epstein but not this is a good question. Although I will point out that I hardly think they're victim focused in the way they discuss Epstein. I personally have heard two male reporters gossiping about the political scandal as if it was awfully fun japes (they were those types) to see what would happen next to Mandy and Andy. With no thought to the victims of these abhorrent men.

Is it just the BBC? That's the first reference I've seen to the Inquiry on any of the mainstream media.

This sounds extremely concerning. The government is supposedly committed to this national inquiry.

Truly harrowing to read (there is a transcript)

Article today in the Times.

Confronted by the full horror of the rape gangs, you would expect ministers to do everything in their power to make the courts more
transparent, not less. The more we know about the rape gangs, the more we can join the dots, and the more of these evil criminals we can arrest and punish.

But that is not what the government is doing. Keir Starmer did everything he could to avoid holding a national inquiry. He made sure our proposal to publish judges’ sentencing remarks was voted down. And now David Lammy, the justice secretary, has ordered the deletion of court archives used by journalists, campaigners and survivors to shine a light on the darkest crimes imaginable.

What we do now know about this appalling scandal emerged only thanks to the bravery of the survivors who have told their stories and the indefatigability of journalists and campaigners who exposed the truth and told the country. But it has taken years for the facts to come out. We still do not have the whole truth, and these crimes continue to happen. We need transparency, and part of that transparency is Courtsdesk — a searchable database of court listings and registers, which provides vital details about criminal cases.
www.thetimes.com/article/8986c2ed-f6c4-410a-82e4-1d7e4b54a8f7?shareToken=d8f4ec856076eb04b8a4d923d20945de

Also there are questions to be answered about the destruction of Court records.
Jean Hatchett shares question in parliament.
The destruction of court records - which would need to be preserved for any chance of an effective grooming gang inquiry - is not in any way assured.

Who is telling the truth here? This is so serious. This is the UK govt version of the Epstein Files. The corruption goes deep into many state institutions including police and social services and we should trust absolutely nothing. We must not let those in power destroy any records and plead “mistake” later.

x.com/i/status/2021110002144993534

The hearings have now finished so we're waiting for the reports.
Meanwhile Fioan's story is available

https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/grooming-gangs-fionas-story?r=5a1v0r&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

I share your concern.

Well done John!

Here you go.

I'd recommend watching to the end as the journalist at the end makes a good point about how Mahmood talked about the statutory inquiry and has essentially batted Lowe's request for action away, but how that has not yet 'got off the ground' nor heard any testimony from families or survivors. Which is a really, really, really good point. How long can they just delay and promise to do something but then not actually do anything. I suspect the plan is to fob us all off forever.

Why the hell can't you see this sort of reporting on the BBC? Includes some House of Commons footage.

Lot of inaccuracies in this news report but apparently John Cleese has spoken out on X and asked why the BBC isn't covering this issue clearly in the public interest - testimony from rape gang survivors. Again, a good question.

'BBC is disgraceful!' John Cleese tears apart broadcaster in rape gang row | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV | Express.co.uk

Yes I heard it was being covered in the Indian press (possibly from you).

Girls from the UK trafficked abroad by Pakistani grooming gangs (to Pakistan). Some got away and have told their stories. Lowe said 'how many didn't get away?' which IMO is a very good question. He's written to the Home Secretary to take action. Given how complicit the police have been, I can't see it happening.

I'm still honestly shocked by how little the media is covering this in this country, though it is being covered abroad. It's like some kind of omerta. It's weird when the media will otherwise report on celebrity crap no-one cares about and are positively going mental over the Epstein files - but the facts being released here are more harrowing (I know, but it's true) and absolutely relevant to so much of life in the UK: trust in the police, the law, the Labour party.

He posts on Facebook. I think the reason it’s not fully public is that there are likely to be prosecutions from it going forward. He’s shared some stuff and it’s utterly harrowing.

I imagine reports and transcripts will be produced. It’s incredibly expensive to do this. I think given the circumstances around this (they had some whistleblowers as well) being very careful in the release of information is important. Some people will want anonymity and it’s worth taking time to make sure anyone who engages in this is confident that their personal information is used in a way that aligns with their wishes.

I sometimes have mixed feelings about Ruoert Lowe as a brown person, but here he’s doing the lords work as far as I’m concerned. If satan himself were leading this enquiry I would support it, this is why I don’t understand this fretting about politics, this is justice imo, if you care more about weaponisation than crimes committed against children (anyone who’s read anything about what was said in the courts about grooming gangs will understand who utterly depraved these men were, they tortured these children) then you really don’t actually care about victims of sexual violence. I have massive amounts of respect for Lowe here and every single person who’s stepped forward to contribute to this. I feel utterly disgusted with our institutions though.

Most of them do have one, because they want to know what’s being said about them/their party.

I think the main thing is that the information from the enquiry should be available somewhere. I don't have an X account, but if I was a politician or a journalist or anyone else who saw a chance of helping those women get justice and helping to stop it happening again, I would get one.