Star Opinion 5th February 2015, you may have missed.
These hard hitting words, sum up the heinous nature of these crimes. One person dead and at least 1400 victims. Time to absorb the seriousness of this depravity and act:
ROTHERHAM CHILD SEX ABUSE SCANDAL – EDITOR’S OPINION: A little girl was raped with a broken bottle, and yet former Council Leader and Police and Crime Commissioner refused to answer questions in interview
CHILDREN were sexually exploited in Rotherham by Pakistani men, en masse.
That is an undisputed fact: concrete evidence bears this out, and yet when the latest Government official to look under Rotherham Council’s rock did so, she found not an authority determined to right some heinous wrongs, but a hunkered down posse of belligerent bullies who were adamant that both Professor Alexis Jay and now Louise Casey were incompetent fantasists who’d made a mountain out of a molehill.
The ‘upstanding’ members of the council under investigation told Casey that there wasn’t an issue, and in fact that it was the fault of people like me; the media was out to get them, they said, and they’d done nothing wrong. Casey discovered public figures of senior authority who were more bothered about protecting their good name than they were the people who needed their protection the most.
‘That Jay woman is talking rubbish. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Don’t worry, folks. As you were.’
That was the attitude Casey encountered. As she puts it, ‘a resolute denial of what has happened in the borough’. I’m afraid that is unforgivable.
Rotherham Politics 
They won’t admit what they did because the scale of it is too big. They’ve shut down mentally so they don’t have to face it.
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If you want change remember to vote for anyone that is not under the labour banner …. If you want more of the same …then you have to vote the same back in …. when will people wake up to the fact that this labour led council has killed our town … the town centre is a proper s##t hole of a place … all the good shops have left for retail world … I have heard a rumour that primark is moving to parkgate .. what is left then ? only discount stores a handful of pubs ,banks and charity shops… whoever manages the town ought to be thoroughly ashamed … I know this post is not ideally in the right thread .. but it would not be out of place on any really … after all the point I make is that for far too long clls have not had to answer to anyone and done what they like … and what I mention about the s##t hole town is the result of their decisions . Try and imagine what it will be like in another 5 years ….. no business worth anything would locate in the town centre .. what did Reg Smith tell the big hotel chain that wanted to build on a certain site ? NO is what he told them …because he is the man .. and off they went with their jobs …. I bet they are glad now .
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I agree it’s been ruined our little town by this labour council, look at what they did with doncaster gate. It’s too late in many ways, it’s ok for those that have now either gone or been pushed, they will just relocate .leaving us with a broken town and a broken system. And if the ones that are left get re,elected back in , just more of the same to come. Let us hope we can have change somehow we need it ?.
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Doncaster Gate was a virtual ruin, and would have cost an absolute fortune to renovate. Then it would have been as housing – and who wants to live bang next to the miserable dump that is the toiwn centre No good clinging to the past for the sake of it.
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Forensic I just think that this was part of the towns heritage, dating back to around 1810. And we had members of a cabinet who decided, regardless of what the public wanted And I will never forgive those who took away our heritage in this building. should have taken a public vote , and as for cost look at how much money they have wasted. On various things.
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The Star leader is spot on; take a look at the ranting of community campaigner and founder of British Muslim Youth, one Muhbeen Hussain in this week’s Rotherham Advertiser.
He says that they don’t support the findings of the Casey report and then goes on to attempt to rubbish and undermine the report.
In the same edition we have a taxi driver bleating on how they have all been tarred with the same brush.
The most worrying aspect of the taxi article is that he says that if the proposals for rule changes go ahead drivers would have to pack it in.
If they go ahead?
British Muslim Youth are a disgrace to the town and as for the Rotherham taxi trade, simple just stop using them.
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let them pack in as taxi drivers , good honest taxi driver have nothing to fear about the new rules why all the fuss ??
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Considering the open way that this gang rape and other brutality against youngsters has now been aired across the country – and particularly in the Rotherham area – it is surprising that the public aren’t packing out every council and committee meeting, every NHS meeting, every police meeting, demanding action.
So where are these concerned people? And why aren’t they exercising their democratic right to attend such meetings, to protest, to insist that criminal prosecutions are taken out?
Does anyone have an answer to this?
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Not sure I have an answer on this but I have a view, which is this : many people in Rotherham (and other similar towns) do not follow the goings on of the local councils and politicians as much as some of us do. They have a trust of those in authority, and those elected that they have been ‘brought’ up with, which is after all the basis of a civilised democratic society. We are told that our ‘leaders’ have our best interests at heart and are working for the good of the community. There is no reason to believe otherwise. Until something goes wrong.
Then some of us believe that those responsible for whatever ‘s gone wrong can work together to put it right. But when that doesn’t happen we either complain and try to hold the ‘leaders’ to account, or feel that it’s not worth the bother and do nothing , whilst complaining amongst ourselves about those in power. When elections are held these people don’t bother voting and the ‘leaders’ in control convince themselves that it’s because they are doing a great job.
There are others who not only complain about things that are not right but try to do something about it themselves. As I have written about many times before, we all know that the few are no match for the many, especially when the powerful are becoming more powerful by closing ranks and recruiting new followers with the promise of glory.
Those who the powerful feel at all threatened by are silenced in a variety of ways – often to the detriment of their health and that of their family. It’s basic Animal Farm stuff.
And the solution must be down to each individual, their conscience and their strength of character and mind.
Personally, I have to console my rage and sense of injustice at the situation in Rotherham and in Maltby by writing about it and asking the many questions that never get answered. It’s all I can now do, but I hope to keep folks informed and perhaps the upcoming generation of voters and politicians will have the courage and strength to be true to the basics of community and democracy.
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The BBC and public opinion is like the moon and the tides. If the BBC makes a big fuss about something e.g. phone hacking, then it magnifies public opinion. If the BBC ignores something then it dampens down public opinion.
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You would think that after news that taxi drivers in Rotherham had been involved in moving vulnerable children to be abused the taxi drivers would have been up in arms and outing the guilty drivers.
No, not one bit.
A mass protest by Pakistani taxi drivers against some new light touch rules and regulations is all they can muster.
Time to take the gloves off with the taxi business in Rotherham.
No more prior notice of roadside checks, introduce unannounced moving stop and inspection of drivers and their cars for any infringement of the rules, drug and alcohol testing as a matter of routine.
My concern is that the controlling Labour group will not have the stomach to make it happen, so in the mean time it’s the bus or an independent out of town taxi, come May vote UKIP who will introduce the changes.
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And not only that the officers concerned were paid off or left. Let’s take Cray as a case in point. Chair of the Safer Rotherham Partnership that failed spectacularly to address CSE, senior officer responsible for licensing who was adamant with the Casey inspectors that the process was compliant and amongst the best there was , until he was proved wrong. He “took early retirement at short notice” during the Casey inspection. Now that’s got to be worth an FOI to have a look at the package………… Also worth noting that he is now touting himself as a consultant and interim manager through the Association of Dierctors of Social Services. Be warned.
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What a joke – Cray has no qualification to tout himself as a ‘consultant’ in Social Services. Elsewhere you at least need to have social work qualifications to lead on this, but he was handed responsibility for Adult Services by Stone & Cuff in 2006 when he was in charge of housing & environmental health. He got it because they thought his bullyboy tactics would turn round what was already a basket case of a service – they’d already been slaughtered by the then government inspectors for failing older people. Its still a basket case after nine years of this charlatan’s ‘leadership’. But ‘Teflon Tom’ (nothing EVER stuck to him as he held everyone accountable but himself) has managed to waltz away unscathed.
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We need a FBI type agency to come into Rotherham and investigate and run the CSE program
This must be taken totally away from the influence of South Yorkshire Police they have to my knowledge been investigating this for over -15 Years and to my knowledge only about 8 Convictions
South Yorkshire Police have proved without a shadow of doubt are not a police force fit for purpose
In Nottingham historical abuse case and within weeks they arrest people
Do I need to say more
We have time scales and theirs scales South Yorkshire Police are well over a reasonable time scale
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Caven,
Isn’t the National Crime Agency a “FBI-type” body?
I think you’ll find it’s already here.
http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/news-listings/517-nca-begins-two-stage-investigation-into-child-sexual-exploitation-in-rotherham
…. and update:
http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/news-listings/545-nca-to-investigate-matters-arising-from-inspection-into-rotherham-council
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Caven, you forget one thing. In the case of Nottinghamshire Police’s investigation, they were fully supported by Notts Council Social Services, Children’s Department who passed on ALL information about these cases. In the case of Rotherham and SYP, Rotherham Council continually refused to give ANY information to the police to allow them to investigate. I believe Social Workers were stopped by the likes of Stone and Wright. The police cannot prosecute without evidence and if those who hold the evidence refuse to divulge it, prosecutions will and can never take place!
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As you say Anon, the success of the Nottingham investigation was made possible because of good communication and information exchange between all the authorities concerned, and this has been lacking in Rotherham. However, as we have seen, the Police here are just as reluctant to prosecute even when evidence is handed them on a plate,indeed even when they actually catch the perpetrators with their victims. They think the victims are “little slags”, you see, and that they are “willing participants”. So they arrest the victim for drunk and disorderly and tell the perpetrator to be on their way. Far from having their hand tied due to lack of evidence, SYP have adopted the the three wise monkeys approach to dealing with CSE.
The exchange of information is essential to the success of any investigation, but it’s also essential that once you have the information you don’t just sit on it in the hope it will all go away. And that is what happened. The Police are just as much to blame as the council for allowing the abusers to keep on abusing.
Read the Jay report, it’s all in there.
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It’s absolutely clear that South Yorkshire Police in this regard wasn’t fit for purpose.
But, Councillor Vines, weren’t you a member of it and weren’t you one of those who voted against having someone lead on child sexual abuse?
When are you going to resign?
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Reblogged this on maltbyblogger and commented:
Not sure I have an answer on this but I have a view, which is this : many people in Rotherham (and other similar towns) do not follow the goings on of the local councils and politicians as much as some of us do. They have a trust of those in authority, and those elected that they have been ‘brought’ up with, which is after all the basis of a civilised democratic society. We are told that our ‘leaders’ have our best interests at heart and are working for the good of the community. There is no reason to believe otherwise. Until something goes wrong.
Then some of us believe that those responsible for whatever ‘s gone wrong can work together to put it right. But when that doesn’t happen we either complain and try to hold the ‘leaders’ to account, or feel that it’s not worth the bother and do nothing , whilst complaining amongst ourselves about those in power. When elections are held these people don’t bother voting and the ‘leaders’ in control convince themselves that it’s because they are doing a great job.
There are others who not only complain about things that are not right but try to do something about it themselves. As I have written about many times before, we all know that the few are no match for the many, especially when the powerful are becoming more powerful by closing ranks and recruiting new followers with the promise of glory.
Those who the powerful feel at all threatened by are silenced in a variety of ways – often to the detriment of their health and that of their family. It’s basic Animal Farm stuff.
And the solution must be down to each individual, their conscience and their strength of character and mind.
Personally, I have to console my rage and sense of injustice at the situation in Rotherham and in Maltby by writing about it and asking the many questions that never get answered. It’s all I can now do, but I hope to keep folks informed and perhaps the upcoming generation of voters and politicians will have the courage and strength to be true to the basics of community and democracy.
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Well written maltby blogger, and that sums up exactly how it is and that includes how I feel myself. And I agree we cannot stand up to the powerfull who all do close ranks and watch each other’s backs , how can we as in most cases a minority at any given meeting.
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Well it would be like sitting in a room of puppets , and puppet master. From what I have seen of the council meetings online. My opinion only, and if all else failed they would send for the police to remove one for being loud.
That is just my opinion, and the ordinary public would not be listened to, only given answers that things were being investigated, or similar. What else can a person or persons do , attending meetings were no real results are forthcoming.
I think we saw examples of these meetings when shaun wright was being ousted out. He wouldn’t even resign after a committee meeting with the parliament .
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Look at the massive outcry over one racist incident on French underground. What has happened in Rotherham is at least 1400 times more concerning and is being airbrushed and ignored.
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So, do you support the police – French and English – and Chelsea FC taking action or not?
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It shows how if the media make a big noise over something the police and politicians will jump straight away but if the media cover up and ignore something – like industrial scale child abuse – then nothing happens.
If the BBC had made as big a fuss over Ann Cryer’s comments back in 2004 as they made about phone hacking for example then most of the victims of the grooming gangs would never have become victims.
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Thank you for the link RR
Let’s just hope they act sooner than later
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JEan
anyone can stand up to these thugs and bullies. The good people of Anston have been standing up to the Labour Bullies for years. Once you start to challenge them, first they use the abuse tactics, then they try bullying, but keep at them by asking awkward questions and they start to crumble. If it was not for the valiant few members of the Public at Anston, our village would be in an even worse state than it is.
Go to http://www.anstonparishcouncilwatch. you will be able to see and hear the challenges, or see anston parish council on utube.
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“The good people of Anston have been standing up to the Labour Bullies for years” Strange – they must be outnumbered by the ‘bad people of Anston’ then, because Labour still seems to get voted in most years. APC is a very bad joke, and there is no evidence that anything in Anston is better or worse as a result of its dreary blathering. Should be terminated as a complete waste of public money.
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Thankyou s Thornton I will go look,. Ive talked with a few people whilst out and about , and most say they are not bothering to vote, as no one worth voting for, sadly I’m thinking the same. Can’t we vote to do with out councillors, and have a different system.
As this system we have in Uk now as certainly failed us. Especially in our town . We’ve been in the public eye for the worst possible situation, the cruelty and depraved behavoure that could happen to our towns children. And yet their are some of those in positions of authority that say they did not know. No wonder they are sending representatives from London.
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When will the public ask for/demand answers from South Yorkshire Police?
How many more terrible events do we need, before we the public who pay them, ask why the Police have not done their job?
Who is the person responsible within SY Police for ignoring the truth?
We need answers now!
They have to answer the questions now surely!!!
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https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/ipcc-announces-investigation-south-yorkshire-police-handling-rotherham-cse-matters
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