On the 6th November 2019, Oldham Council Leader, SEAN FIELDING, claimed that the allegations of child sex exploitation and the failures exposed on social media of the failings within his Council were ‘bare faced lies’.

Unfortunately, his lead investigator, the 'renowned' Dr Peel, didn't seem to agree with him and refused to undertake the Review he had been hired to lead on. It is not clear whether Dr Peel’s withdrawal was associated with data from a Freedom of Information response from Greater Manchester Police that details the extent of child sexual exploitation in Oldham.

Official police figures detail that in the 10 year period between 2008-18, the Police themselves had flagged 502 cases of child sex exploitation. The equivalent of one a week, every week, for the last 10 years.

After community pressure has forced them to back track on his original claim of ‘bare faced lies’, SEAN FIELDING’s Oldham Council is now attempting to restrict the scope and scale of the investigation in to the grooming, rape and human trafficking of working class white girls in the town.

Following the spectacular failure of the Council’s own attempts at an inquiry when handpicked ‘renowned’ expert, Dr Peel, refused to undertake an ‘Internal Review; Leader of Oldham Council, SEAN FIELDING, approached GM Mayor, ANDY BURNHAM for help. Whilst there is confidence in BURNHAM’s team of investigators, who pulled no punches in holding Manchester Council and Greater Manchester Police to account, the Terms of Reference of the Oldham investigation appear to have been carefully censored to keep the investigation away from uncomfortable truths.

This harrowing testimony now destroys any claims of legitimacy that ANDY BURNHAM’s team have in allowing Oldham Council to decide what can and cannot be investigated. If ANDY BURNHAM wishes to avoid becoming complicit in what the people of Oldham belief to be a cover up, he must instruct his team to rip up the existing Terms of Reference and allow his investigators to do as they did in Manchester and Rochdale and have a free hand to investigate everything.

On the 14th January 2020 an independent investigation forced upon Greater Manchester Authorities after the screening of the 2017 BBC documentary The Betrayed Girls, was finally published. The report painted a damning picture of how grooming gangs were left free to roam the streets of Manchester in ‘plain sight’ and abuse dozens of victims.

Since I first starting to openly challenge Oldham Council, various victims and their family members have been approaching me keen to share what exactly happened to them, how they were failed by those entrusted to safeguard them  and how what was done to them was covered up.

These are heart wrenching stories shared from the perspective of yesterday’s children who were abused. Their simple truths are free from SEAN FIELDING and Oldham Council’s incompetence or the influence of Andy Burnham’s spin doctors. And just as importantly, they are free from fears of accusations of racism and pay no heed to politician’s anxieties of losing votes or damaging so called ‘community relations’,

Yesterday’s Children is a series of case studies that share the harrowing stories of children who were groomed and abused and then later failed by the various statutory agencies. All stories are produced in consultation with the actual victims. In many cases, this is the first time that their stories are truly shared.

It is past time their voices are heard.