Opinion Piece; Why oh why, Jayne Senior?
On deciding to become a Councillor Jayne seriously limited her ability to help Rotherham CSE victims, not enhanced it. She is manacled, and vulnerable.
I’m a big fan of Jayne’s commitment to exposing political and policing failures in, she is one of a small group of women who refused to be silenced. She courted significant risks, both physical and to her career in order that the stories of the victims could be told.
Yet when she decided to become a Labour Councillor my heart sank, and I feared the worse for Jayne.
Truth-tellers are rarely applauded for long, and after the limelight shifts elsewhere you are left alone with the spite and loathing of those who feel wronged by your truths.
Within the Rotherham Labour Group she is despised and mistrusted by a majority of colleagues. The Group is not yet so reconstructed as to appreciate the opportunities that the Jay & Casey report brought. Many just want rid of the Commissioners and are cap doffing in the meantime.
People like Jayne and Sarah Champion are reminders that the past has not gone away.
Yet as a member of the Group Jayne is tied by Cabinet accountability, meaning arguments and decisions made within their private meetings stay within them. Meaning she has to support all group decisions or suffer removal from Group and potentially the Party.
Add to these the perpetrators and their families, many Police officers, some from other public bodies and sadly even some victims jealous of her apparent success, then you have a nasty cocktail bomb of malice.
With many eyes only waiting for her to make one mistake.
Victims come in many forms and I can’t help but wonder if Jayne is one of them. The traumas of being threatened by Police officers, reviled by management and Councillors at Rotherham and staring into the darkness that is Child Sexual Abuse has to have an impact.
Jayne has tremendous experience and proven courage, maybe it’s time to move on, and rethink how she works in the interest of CSE Victims. Time to use her reputation and experience at a higher level.
A Friend
Rotherham Politics 
well said friend a few weeks and all of uk not only rotherham will know whats been going on im proud as a rotherham person to have jayne senior and sarah champion figting for the truth 2 brave women that women of our town should look up to fantastic role models they should be protected because we dont want a joe cox situation
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Joining a political party is a form of bondage, you become sworn to a liege lord and must be loyal. It is one bum deal.
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True – yet it is also seen that anyone who stays independent is attacked from all parties, on the principle that an ‘outsider’ to ‘their system’ might make a difference to the status quo, so is a potential threat to be controlled or destroyed.
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Yes they do the control or destroy business!
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hear that threats and bullying continues in some party meetings by certain cllrs continues. whilst the Mp or is it Manuel protests with his usual I know nothing. Rings a bit hollow.
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Heard same. No surprise.
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Is the isolation of Jayne Senior by Labour councillors another example of Chris Read’s failure to get a grip on his fellow councillors?
What ever happened to the ‘Fresh Start’ for Rotherham?
The ruling Labour group has not changed much, all Read has done is rearrange the deckchairs hence his selection of cabinet members including Beck,Watson and Hoddinott. All of whom were councillors at the time they were publicly outed as ‘Not Fit For Purpose’.
If Sir Derek Myers is unaware of the tensions and mistrust between Labour councillors he is either taking his eye off the ball or he doesn’t care.
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That was the intention of the labour party, to recruit her, laud her with honour and praise from the controlled media, dazzle her and then offer her the chance to change things from within. Once in . Finished. End of embarrassing press for the Labour party and its establishment cohorts..
BTW does anyone know what happened to ‘Rotherham champion’ Gervais Phinn. After a blowhard appearance at a BBC Yorkshire devolution debate he seems to have exited stage left at the first hint of danger.
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You are spot on. They will chew her up and spit her out.
It’s nice world!
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Well said David – it is exactly the same this side of the street. Massaging ego, inflating praise, pumping up a feeling of self-importance, offering meaningless benefits or trinkets, not-so-subtly increasing coercive control, encouragement to join ‘our gang – our gang’ and ‘loyalty to our family’, and then silencing. All this is part of how labour operates. Some might call it political management. Others might more appropriately call the tactics grooming. No wonder then there is such a lack of accountability of politicians over the CSE. Anyone got a mirror?
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Another tactic used west of Rotherham is for politicians to latch on to people to have a good reputation with the local people and steal a free ride on their popularity so as to garner electoral votes by claiming political support for, and association with, their target of the day. This is pure cynicism at its worst. As soon as the issue passes, or the target potentially becomes an embarrassment, they are dumped into oblivion, leaving the political miscreants not only unscathed, but having profited from the exercise with a return to power.
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You keep your friends close but your enemies closer…
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Jayne Senior had to sit silently in the council chamber when the external reports were presented. She did not, possibly could not, ask questions – what a wasted opportunity. If she had been an independent councillor she could have asked as many questions as she wanted / said what she really wanted to say
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