We must confront the truth about the grooming scandal—no matter how uncomfortable, writes Nick Ferrari
17 June 2025, 09:43 | Updated: 17 June 2025, 14:24
There is an unpalatable, deeply uncomfortable truth at the heart of the grooming gang scandal.
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And while we must be precise and cautious in how we discuss it, we cannot shy away from it any longer.
There is something—something in the criminal intent of these men—that, when traced back, appears repeatedly to involve men of Pakistani heritage.
That is not a racist observation. It is a fact, supported by evidence and acknowledged even now in official audits.
Yes, I know what some will say—that I am blowing a dog whistle, or to use the Prime Minister’s own words from earlier this year, “jumping on the far-right bandwagon.”
But I am not. I am seeking to understand one of the darkest, most shameful episodes in modern British history.
Horrific as the Infected Blood scandal was. Appalling as the Post Office scandal has been. I would argue this—these industrial-scale failures to protect vulnerable girls from organised, often racialised sexual abuse—is on the same level. Perhaps, in some ways, even worse.
Not in terms of numbers of lives lost. But in terms of the wilful blindness that stretched across institutions. Because what happened here wasn’t a tragic accident or a historic injustice revealed only by time. This was something people knew—police, councils, and, yes, perhaps even officials in central government. And for years, they did nothing.
Not because they didn’t understand it. But because the truth was too difficult. Too ugly. Too politically inconvenient. So instead of lancing the boil, they tried to smother it with silence. They feared accusations of racism more than they feared the exploitation of children.
Now, at last, a national inquiry has been announced. A dramatic change in tone from the Prime Minister, who only in January had warned that anyone calling for such a probe was siding with extremists.
But this is not about political point-scoring. It is about justice. About finally acknowledging the scale and nature of the failure.
And about ensuring that never again will vulnerable children be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
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