When Jim Can’t Fix It, Can Andy Help Bury It?

Having already botched their initial inquiry in to investigating Oldham Council failures in protecting children from Grooming Gangs, the latest investigation led by GM Mayor Andy Burnham’s team of specialists is also on the verge collapse.

In what is now a predictable pattern replicated in towns across England, where Labour Party politicians rely on the support of the town’s substantial Pakistani & Bangladeshi community to remain in power, it appears that once concerns have been raised, yet again, those in power will do whatever it takes to cover up the truth.

I find myself both disappointed and confused by how this saga has got to this sorry stage . You may be also.. So it’s worth recapping how we got to here. Wherever here actually is.

1. Originally on my Medium page and then later replicated on this website (after powerful people successfully censoring the original dossier of evidence I released), was my Welcome to Oldham story that raised serious questions over Oldham Council’s role in covering up Grooming Gangs operating in the town. Link here

2. The most damning of the emails that I released was from the BBC Reporter, KEVIN FITZPATRICK to JIM McMAHON whilst he was Leader of Oldham Council. Here it is again. I think that the agreement to using the butchered soldier LEE RIGBY to keep this story can clearly be seen. You decide for yourself what you make of it.

3. As news of this revelation spread, Oldham Council Leader SEAN FIELDING issued a statement on the 13th September 2019. It was to be one of many statements. Specifically, he claimed the following:

“The incidents in question were subject to investigations and action by the partnership. It is wrong and abhorrent to insinuate that the council has been, or is, complicit in a cover-up of issues relating to safeguarding. Nothing could be further from the truth.” - SEAN FIELDING

To this day, Oldham Council Leader SEAN FIELDING has failed to release any evidence that remotely suggests that any investigation took place by this partnership led by Oldham Council, let alone any details of what action was taken.

4. I then released information that the ringleader of the Rochdale Grooming Gang was employed by Oldham Council and that the Council had also kept this hidden from the people of the town. Outraged grandmothers descended on the November Council meeting demanding answers. Instead of providing these elderly ladies with the reassurance they sought, Oldham Council called in the Police. Worth also noting the tactics used by Oldham Council to avoid answering questions. Have a read of The Stooge by the team at Oldham Eye.

Below is the video where the Police threaten to use physical force.

5. Spectacularly backfiring, and with one revelation after another emerging including Oldham Council’s employment of SHABIR AHMED, the ringleader of the Rochdale Grooming Gang, SEAN FIELDING was forced into action. He ordered an Internal Review and recruited the ‘renowned’ (his words, not mine) Dr MARK PEEL to carry this out. Here is Fielding making a fool of himself and claiming these allegations are ‘bare faced lies’.

6. Unfortunately for Sean Fielding, the ‘renowned’’ Dr PEEL refused to undertake the review he was hired to lead. SEAN FIELDING to this day refuses to comment why his handpicked lead investigator stepped down.

At the same time, a parallel investigation by Greater Manchester Police was meant to have taken place. Led by GMP's Major Crime Review Team and overseen by Assistant Chief Constable NICK BAILEY, this investigation has also gone quiet.

7. Which brings us to the involvement of ANDY BURNHAM. Having failed to carry out their original inquiry, SEAN FIELDING turned to his senior Labour Party colleague for help. Burnham took on the inquiry and incorporated it in to the ongoing independent review of child sexual exploitation that he set up after being shamed by the BBC drama Three Girls. This investigation was led by Malcolm Newsam (a former commissioner for social care in Rotherham) and Gary Ridgeway (detective superintendent in Cambridgeshire Police).

8. Strangely, the Terms of Reference for this investigation have been set by Oldham Council themselves. In an attempt to provide reassurance, the Mayor’s office claimed that regardless of the terms of reference omitting any individuals, times and places, ‘the investigation would follow the evidence wherever it leads’.

Much of what has taken place to this point was finally shared by ITV and headlined on Granada Reports. Up to this point, what I had disclosed was still being described as ‘allegations’ by SEAN FIELDING and his friends at Oldham Council. To this day, the lead investigative reporter at the Manchester Evening News, still refuses to comment, never mind write a story, on the leaked dossier between the BBC and JIM McMAHON. Not surprisingly, JENNIFER WILLIAMS, is a well known cheerleader and supporter of both BURNHAM & McMAHON.

Note the inclusion in the Granada Reports piece of part of an interview with ex Magistrate and former Councillor Hughie MacDonald. Mr MacDonald was sacked by JIM McMAHON after he raised concerns of the Pakistani Grooming Gangs operating in Oldham. His seat was given to a Pakistani candidate.

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Andy Burnham’s Assurance Review

This Review has been mired in controversy since it was first announced. In addition to the close association between BURNHAM, McMAHON and FIELDING (with Burnham even employing Fielding’s girlfriend) the Terms of Reference are extremely concerning. Determined by Oldham Council, you can find them buried away on the Council web site. In case you struggle finding them, here is the link. Some key observations

1. There is no reference in these Terms of Reference to the inquiry ‘following the evidence wherever it leads’.

2. As a consequence of ‘allegations made on social media’, these Terms of Reference only seek to investigate shisha establishments, children’s homes and taxi services. People who have followed my social media posts will also be aware that my social media ‘allegations’ also expanded to include Counthill School as evidenced here and youth clubs as disclosed by various individuals on social media threads.

3. The proposed methodology is at the very least curious. Remember that email incriminating JIM McMAHON? It seems that whilst Council Officers will be interviewed, there are no plans to interview the politicians. Anyone want to hazard a guess why?

4. Worth also noting is that the Mayor’s office makes a commitment to ‘provide a note taker to be present at all interviews undertaken by the team’.

An Emerging Whitewash?

At the beginning I asked if ANDY BURNHAM was helping bury what has emerged in Oldham. Whilst his investigation identified serious failings in Manchester, the observant will notice that not one single Council Officer or politician has been brought to task for allowing 100 mainly Pakistani men to continue targeting, grooming and abusing White working class girls. Not a single one. Isn’t that right ANDY BURNHAM? Here is a recap of what took place. So why was no one held to account?

The report reveals that police knew that predominantly Asian grooming gangs were operating in the city, but they were told to find other ethnicities to investigate.

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The Party Comes First - Always

ANDY BURNHAM has already confirmed where his loyalties lie. In the lead to the 2015 Labour Leadership Elections he specifically stated that ‘the party comes first - always’ .

“The party comes first - always” Andy Burnham

This Assurance Review is now at risk of collapsing with key witnesses leaving dissatisfied with the conduct of Burnham’s Review team.

First of all was former Cllr KAISER REHMAN. Those that have followed this at times unbelievable series of events will recall how Mr Rehman’s family home was savagely attacked when a pig’s head was thrown through the window. Not one single Oldham Councillor condemned this attack. Despite this attempt at intimidation, Mr Rehman still bravely stepped forward and gave evidence to Burnham’s team. Unfortunately, Mr Rehman later withdrew after he received altered notes from his testimony.

Remember, within the Terms of Reference of this investigation, Burnham’s office specifically makes a commitment to ‘provide a note taker to be present at all interviews undertaken by the team’.

Is it too much to expect that this note taker to have been sufficiently experienced enough to accurately record a Q&A session with one individual? Or how about that the interviews to have been recorded? I ask people to consider if they think either of these safeguards should have been put in place and if they were not, why not?

Now back to HUGHIE MACDONALD He’s the former Councillor that was sacked by JIM McMAHON who replaced him with a Pakistani Councillor. In addition to being a long standing Councillor including heading up Children’s Safeguarding, Mr MacDonald was a 37 year time served magistrate. So by all accounts, a reputable source.

Here is the original headline from 2014 when he was forced out. Notice his loyalty to the Labour Party despite what they did to him.

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HIGHIE MACDONALD has also given evidence to Burnham’s Assurance Review. He has requested the notes from his testimony several times. Guess what? - Burnham’s Review Team have so far refused to provide him with the notes of his own testimony. My understanding is that he has been waiting for these notes for the best part of 8 weeks. WHY IS THAT?

My observation would be that It’s pretty difficult to follow the evidence if the evidence is cut out of people’s testimonies.

Of course, I have refused to take part in this farce of an inquiry in its current form. Nonetheless, I have offered to provide testimony on the proviso of the following conditions being met;

1. my testimony is heard in public

2. an assurance that the investigation is widened to include schools and youth clubs

3. confirmation that politicians in Oldham Council, including JIM McMAHON MP will be interviewed

4. that the Terms of reference be modified to explicitly specify that the investigation will follow the evidence wherever it leads.

You’ve guessed it, they haven’t been back in touch. Actually it gets worse, trusted sources have informed me that instead of investigating the failings of Oldham Council in safeguarding our children, the investigators have been asking questions about me. Lads, I’m not hiding. You want to know about me, come and ask me. In the meantime, expect a formal complaint to your boss the Mayor.

I’m calling it as I see it. This investigation is a sham. It is a mockery of justice and takes the people of Oldham for fools. Is there anyone left who believes that this is anything other than a cover up?

Raja Miah MBE