Lucy Powell's grooming gang 'outburst' shows Labour would rather play politics than deliver justice
7 May 2025, 10:21
The rape gang scandal is one of the most shameful scandals to have occurred in our country.
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It has affected thousands, if not tens of thousands, of victims in over 50 towns. These were children whose lives were destroyed while authorities looked the other way. It is simply not right that justice still has not been served.
Each day the Labour Government fails to implement a full national inquiry is another day justice is denied, the truth stays buried, and survivors are told their pain doesn’t matter.
The victims have waited long enough. Labour must stop stalling and conduct a full national inquiry now. We need fewer dismissive Cabinet Ministers and more who are willing to listen and act. This is about justice, truth, and basic decency.
And yet, at the weekend, Labour Cabinet Minister Lucy Powell MP made her real feelings clear. In a shocking outburst, she described the calls for justice as a “dog whistle” issue. A Cabinet Minister reducing rape, abuse, and institutional failure to a “dog whistle”.
Calling for justice for the victims of the grooming gangs is not weaponising these horrific crimes or using them as cover for a racist agenda, which is what Lucy Powell claimed when she referred to a “dog whistle” and a “little trumpet”. It’s the bare minimum a just society should expect.
Language like that, from a senior member of Keir Starmer’s cabinet, dismisses the pain and suffering endured by thousands of victims and the cover-up that followed. It belittles their pain and says more about the speaker than those demanding justice.
Rightly, there have been calls for Lucy Powell to resign. Her comments are dismissive and at odds with the responsibility she holds. Whether they come from ignorance or something else, I don’t know, it would be hard to believe anyone in her position hasn’t grasped the scale of this national disgrace.
This is the classic leftie deflection of accusing us of playing political football, instead of focusing on the grave reality of the situation. But the public can see through the facade. This is about accountability and delivering justice for the victims.
A full national inquiry is the only way to uncover the truth, deliver justice, and ensure such a scandal never happens again.
Labour must stop dodging this. It’s time they stood up, did the right thing, and gave the victims the justice they’ve been denied for far too long.
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Matt Vickers is the Conservative MP for Stockton West.
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