Child Sex Abuse, ‘grooming gangs’ and the Children’s Wellbeing Bill
There is no higher priority than to stop the scandal of child abuse in any form. To do that we need ACTION now. Not yet another lengthy Inquiry.
I’ve been asked why I didn’t back the Tory motion to Parliament on Wednesday 8th January. The answer is simple. If the Tories succeeded it would have STOPPED important legislation to IMPROVE PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN, including amongst other things, legislation to close the legal loopholes which resulted in the appalling murder of Sara Sharif.
The Tory motion some people thought I should support was the worst kind of political gameplaying; and a shameful attempt to distract attention from the fact they failed to implement ANY of the 20 recommendations from the seven-year-long Inquiry into child sexual abuse by Professor Alexis Jay.
Alexis Jay herself has made clear that having yet another Inquiry is the VERY LAST thing victims of abuse need or deserve right now. Victims themselves have made clear they want ACTION, NOT YET MORE INQUIRIES!
If people would rather have yet another Inquiry than to get on and implement the recommendations the Tories failed to act on, they should tell me which of Prof. Jay’s 20 recommendations they believe are insufficient or should not be implemented? It is high time these matters were acted on; not ignored, as the Conservatives had.
This whole media-stoked furore has been fuelled by an American billionaire (Elon Musk) who has no interest in child protection; only in using his wealth to influence the course of UK politics and the outcome of future elections here, in the same way that he used his vast wealth and power to influence the outcome of the US Presidential elections last year. He (ie Elon Musk) wrongly accuses those he doesn’t approve of not doing enough to prosecute sex offenders here. But he backed a convicted sex offender to be the next US President! It’s just so disappointing that the UK media continues to not just slavishly trumpet everything he says but to give it top headline billing!
The priority for Government should be to implement the Jay recommendations, and as quickly as possible, with clear timescales and regular
reporting to Parliament on progress. This includes creating a dedicated Child Protection Authority, strengthening the criminal justice response to these cases, appointing a new Minister for Children, and massively improving the level of both investigation and speedy prosecution of current and new cases throughout the country.
My Liberal Democrat Parliamentary colleagues and I welcome the Government’s decision to bring in a duty of mandatory sexual abuse reporting, which would require people working with children and in a position of trust to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the relevant authorities. I will continue to hold the Government to account on this.
As the Children’s Wellbeing and School’s Bill passes through Parliament, my Liberal Democrat Parliamentary colleagues and I will be using every opportunity we have to push for real action to tackle the child sex abuse scandal. It is a scandal that is not only found in communities already identified around the country but in many other walks of life, as the recent scandals in sports, the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and other institutions have exposed.
We will keep up the pressure to make sure the Government doesn’t drag its heels, so that action needed to make our communities safe for our children is put in place as quickly as possible.