By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-01-10 12:16:21 | Updated at 2025-01-10 15:41:42
3 hours ago
Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah has said that the area has become a "target for the far-right" amid the surge in coverage on the national grooming gangs scandal.
Her intervention comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that politicians calling for a national inquiry were jumping on the "bandwagon" amid the "poison of the far-right".
Shah made her comments in an opinion piece for the website LabourList.
The Labour politician said: "Sadly, following the unwanted and unwarranted involvement of online commentators and political opportunists, this important issue has been hijacked by those with an agenda of hate and division and Oldham has, once again, become a target for the far right."
PHILANDJU/LABOUR
Shah noted that her council asked the Government for a fresh inquiry into the abuse scandal "at the request of local survivors who felt that what our previous review into social care practice lacked was an opportunity for them to have their voices heard, their individual experiences looked at".
That request was rejected four months later in October, as revealed by GB News last week.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips apologised at the time for the almost four-month delay in responding to the survivor-led request.
Phillips confirmed earlier this week that she did not speak to survivors before denying their request for a government-led inquiry.
When asked by GB News for clarification on which online commentators or political opportunists from the far-right had targeted Oldham, Shah said she had nothing to add to her comments.
