Letter from Parliament - Simon Danczuk MP

Simon Danczuk, Rochdale MP

The publication of the long awaited Serious Case Review this week has once more brought attention to the collective failings of agencies that allowed sex grooming to take place in Rochdale.

Quite understandably, this continues to generate passionate debate and I want to clarify my comments on BBC Radio 4 a few weeks back, which subsequently saw me attacked in the media.

To be clear, sexual abuse is a universal problem. It cannot be confined to any creed, colour, religion or gender. Sexual abuse happens in all communities and we continue to see evidence of that in the courts. But the phenomenon of on-street grooming has seen a disproportionate number of men involved from the British Asian community. I said very early on that I thought there was a small sub-culture in the Asian community that needed tackling, but this in no way represents the wider community. Decent, law abiding British Asians should not be stigmatised because of the actions of a minority of warped individuals.

Grooming needs to come under more scrutiny if we are going to clear this criminal stain from our town and that means some tough messages are needed.

I have seen some great initiatives across the country tackling this, including the Community Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation initiative in Bradford, which calls for zero tolerance of abuse. But apart from the excellent campaigning of Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation in Rochdale too many people have been silent.

Some people, including councillors, have told me to stay silent on the issue too.

Last year the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West, Nazir Afzal, came to Rochdale and said some people must have known what was happening in their community and more people must speak out. There needs to be a loud condemnation of this activity in order to drive it from our town once and for all.

Now that the festive season is upon us I am looking forward to a few days rest with the family. It’s been an eventful year and much has been achieved. From helping secure funding for Rochdale’s new bus station and our successful campaign to get the Government to reduce business rates for small businesses to securing a trial for the killers of Rochdale Red Cross worker, Khuram Shaikh, and ensuring the Council u-turned on plans for big pay rises for senior officers, we’ve certainly been busy. There is much more to do next year and I look forward to continuing working with you.