Committing to a Wales-wide grooming gangs inquiry will help end this evil once and for all

Mims Davies – Shadow Secretary of State for Wales

As Shadow Minister for Women and an MP with a record of standing up for girls, women, young people and those who need to be heard, I strongly believe the only way to protect communities and ensure grooming gangs do not plague our society is to launch a Wales-wide inquiry.

This will be of assistance to what the UK Government has already done, but there is much agreement that they have not gone far enough – especially for those awaiting justice.

But before I, like other like-minded people, are condemned as merely jumping on – and I quote Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – a “far-right bandwagon” for even daring to utter again our clear belief, Labour needs to urgently heed the following words.

“The more you talk about it, the more children at risk of being groomed can be saved”—these aren’t my words, but those of a survivor who bravely spoke to Nation Cymru of her devastating ordeal at the hands of a vile grooming gang.

Survivor Emily Vaughn— not her real name— is right; the only way to dismantle this heinous crime is to continue highlighting it to spread a greater public awareness and deepen understanding on how this practice could be happening.

Failures

I must digress slightly to confess being sickened to the core of actually writing an article on this very topic because grooming gangs are rife where they simply should not exist or be able to occur.

But the essence of what Emily is saying is it’s incumbent upon us all to ensure everyone is aware of the signs of a grooming gang, to guarantee that never again will we let down young girls and women.

Emily also crucially warns of both grooming gangs still operating across Wales, as well as operational failures to locate and punish those perpetrating this heinous crime.

The reality is what has happened to  communities in Rochdale and Rotherham are tragedies that appear to have been repeated elsewhere, including in Wales. In those cases, thousands of children were subjected to systematic abuse, whose lives have been severely damaged or destroyed.

Our Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, has made it clear we are the party determined to tackle the hard truths and that is the least we should be prepared to do to support these affected youngsters.

What was equally scandalous in these particular cases was the fact there was some level of collusion of officials, who, quite clearly, did not put the victims or their families first.  This is a true abomination.

Scale

Previous inquiries have failed to examine this pertinent point. However, under Rishi Sunak, there was further action that protected victims but it’s clear the scale and reach is still not fully uncovered and therefore understood.

When you hear about both these past tragedies and this latest Welsh abuse survivor saying grooming gangs are operating, it makes me more resolute to act. We sincerely do need a Wales-wide inquiry into grooming gangs and the Conservatives at either end of the M4 will not back down from this belief.

Just last week, I raised the pertinent issue directly at the despatch box with the Secretary of State for Wales , Jo Stevens, who simply dismissed the topic.

I suppose the disappointment in this response should not have come as any surprise, given every single Welsh Labour MP, together with Keir Starmer, voted down our amendment to hold a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

It is absolutely imperative that we launch this vital inquiry to give the victims and their loved ones justice because they deserve nothing less after the trauma they have suffered.

Awareness

My Conservative MP colleagues and our Senedd Leader Darren Millar MS believe it’s absolutely right to continue to call on the Labour Welsh Government to ensure justice will be served against the perpetrators and to ask what communications ministers have had with relevant stakeholders. I echo his calls.

We need as many people as possible to be discussing this in order to, as Emily stressed, raise awareness of the signs of grooming gangs.

A Wales-wide inquiry would ensure justice prevails and crucially communities will no longer be at risk from such predatory behaviour. Our daughters and granddaughters need to be protected. We should stop at nothing to achieve this.

Mims Davies MP is the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Shadow Minister for Women