Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, was criticised by grooming gang victims and forced to apologise after suggesting on a Channel 4 documentary that the grooming scandal was a ‘dog whistle’ issue. Wes Streeting defended her saying, ‘we all make mistakes’, but insisted that she wouldn’t be sacked.The implication of her remark was that the reports of men of Pakistani heritage grooming and prostituting vulnerable white girls had been blown out of all proportion by right wing ideologues seeking to gain support by stoking racial tension. This view has been supported by at least one contributor on the Forum who recently suggested that most crimes of a sexual nature in this country are committed by white people.This may be the case but that is because most people in this country are white. The fact is that men of Pakistani origin are disproportionately associated with the sexual exploitation of teenage girls and their victims are almost always white. In order to put an end to this crime, we need to understand why it is happening. Instead woke politicians like Lucy Powell and cowardly police officers have sought to brush it under the carpet.There are a number of explanations for this ugly phenomenon. The most important is the breakdown of social order in depressed industrial towns. Vulnerable young girls living in disfunctional families or inadequate care homes are allowed to roam about the streets unsupervised, often ending up in illuminated and warm places like minicab offices, where they can fall vicim to criminals. But there is also a cultural aspect. There is a stereotype amongst Pakistanis, where women are given far less freedom, that white girls are of easy virtue. Most Pakistani men, of course, would never abuse teenage girls, but the minority who are that way inclined can justify their crimes by convincing themselves that the girls are asking for it. These criminals would not dream of abusing Pakistani girls in this way a) because Pakistani girls are inaccessible, leading mostly sheltered lives, and b) because the criminals would fear violent retribution from the families of any girls they abused. Another factor in the crime is the reluctance of local police forces to intervene for fear of a career ending accusation of racism.
Steven Rose ● 56d