Welcome to Wherever
*insert name of any Labour Party town or city reliant on the Asian Muslim vote
On the 14th January 2020, an independent investigation was forced upon the Greater Manchester Combined Authority after the screening of the 2017 BBC documentary The Betrayed Girls was finally published. The report painted a damning picture of how a grooming gang of just short of 100 men was left free to roam the streets of Manchester in ‘plain sight’ and abuse dozens of victims.
Though the investigation is yet to publish its findings regarding cases in both Rochdale and Oldham, the likelihood is that the findings will be similar for Rochdale though perhaps not Oldham if the Council gets its way in limiting the scope of the investigation.
Oldham is a town where the Labour Party run Council under its Chief Executive Dr CAROLYN WILKINS is in denial. Here, the Leader of Oldham Council, SEAN FIELDING, has already claimed concerns of grooming as ‘bare faced lies’ , whilst the previous Leader and now MP for Oldham, JIM McMAHON, is refusing to comment on the role he played in using the funeral of Lee Rigby to cover up concerns of a grooming gang luring and abusing girls in to unlicensed shisha bars in Oldham.
To date, the full Council has walked out of a Council meeting and called in the Police rather than answer concerned residents questions. The Council Leader SEAN FIELDING has also taken to social media to gloat over the censorship of a petition that had the audacity to ask people to support an independent investigation.
Subsequently, both politicians and their LABOUR PARTY run OLDHAM COUNCIL are facing increasing pressure from ordinary members of the public to explain their actions. As a direct consequence of this unprecedented and unrelenting community pressure, Oldham Council was forced to finally commission an internal inquiry. Before it even started, the expert they appointed, Dr PEEL, resigned having refused to carry out the task set by the Council.
Though the Council has since approached ANDY BURNHAM’s investigative team for help, SEAN FIELDING has been attempting to restrict the scope of the new investigation by limiting it to a 12 month period between 2012/13 that only looks in to specific venues. This restricted remit is at complete odds with the scope and scale of the investigations in both Manchester and Rochdale.
Following explosive revelations that the ringleader of the Rochdale Grooming Gang, SHABIR AHMED, as well as living in Oldham, was also an active member of the Labour Party and an employee off the Council, It is even more vital that the limited scope of the investigation in to the failures of OLDHAM COUNCIL be widened beyond SEAN FIELDING’s damage limitation exercise. Particularly as it will not have gone unnoticed that SEAN FIELDING’s proposed inquiry only commences after SHABIR AHMED and members of his gang had already been arrested!
If ANDY BURNHAM is to maintain any level of trust from the people of our town, he must maintain his independence and resist SEAN FIELDING and OLDHAM COUNCIL’s pressure and avoid any suspicion of the Greater Manchester Mayor being involved in a cover up..
GMCA Child Sex Exploitation Assurance Review
After claiming ‘bare faced lies’, at the now infamous Council meeting where OLDHAM COUNCIL Leader SEAN FIELDING refused to answer questions and attempted to have a disabled grandmother arrested, SEAN FIELDING then went on to release the latest in a series of press releases that followed a pattern of contradicting his previous statements.
In this latest version of the truth according to Sean Fielding, it seemed that the ‘renowned’ Dr Peel, whom Oldham Council had headhunted and commissioned to lead a review in to these concerns, had stepped down and was refusing to lead the work he had been hired to do. In typical SEAN FIELDING style, just like at the Council meeting, he ran away in, he is refusing to provide any explanation as to why the investigation in to the abuse of children in Oldham had been pulled.
News of his own handpicked investigator, Dr Peel refusing to lead OLDHAM COUNCIL’s own internal inquiry was predictably buried in a late Friday afternoon press release. The people of Oldham learning from newspaper reports that concerns in Oldham were now LIKELY to form part of a wider Greater Manchester review. In amongst all the spin, they were informed that ANDY BURNHAM’s team was going to bolt on Oldham to an existing review that they have been undertaking at the GMCA. The first set of explosive findings of this existing GMCA review in to the failures in Manchester were released this week and can be found here
Though SEAN FIELDING in his statement to full Council at the next meeting moved on to a new position that it would be ‘naive’ to think that children in Oldham had not been groomed, he still appeared vague over what ANDY BURNHAM’s team would be actually investigating and claimed that the terms of reference of the Oldham review would be shared the following week.
People who have been following this evolving story will know that these concerns are not new and the Council as well as dragging its feet is also increasingly looking to be inept and not fit for purpose. Unsurprisingly, over a week after SEAN FIELDING’s last statement, OLDHAM COUNCIL is yet to publish these terms of reference and the public remain in the dark over what this overdue review will actually examine.
The only information I can glean has been from various news articles suggesting that the scope of the work undertaken by the ANDY BURNHAM’s team of investigators will be severely limited and only look at the safeguarding processes at the Council during 2012/2013 and the extent to which historical actions and employment records have been 'adequately investigated' in the case of 'known offenders' previously employed within Oldham public services.
Whilst there is a nice photograph of SEAN FIELDING looking stern and statesmanlike on the Council website, he is still refusing to explain to the people of Oldham why he originally claimed ‘bare faced lies’, why his own investigation spectacularly collapsed or how much time and resources was spent on his Council’s botched attempt to investigate. Also worth noting that the GMCA Review is NOT something new and there was no plausible reason why Oldham Council did not originally ask them to undertake this work, unless you happen to suspect the worst of Oldham Council’s motives of an internal inquiry.
Those who follow politics will know that ANDY BURNHAM has a clear conflict of interest. Whilst he may have been happy to stick the knife in to Manchester Council, with whom he has been involved in a power struggle since coming in to his role, in Oldham the politicians are his allies. As well as SEAN FIELDING and ANDY BURNHAM recently teaming up to run a charity race together, BURNHAM has also appointed the young and inexperienced FIELDING in to a senior position in his team. Furthermore, he has also hired SEAN FIELDING’s girlfriend in to his team under questionable circumstances. Separately, JIM McMAHON is also an ally of ANDY BURNHAM.
Subsequently, it is not surprising that when asked to look at the issue in Oldham, ANDY BURNHAM has so far not questioned why the scope of the work in Oldham is restricted in a way that it is not in Manchester or Rochdale.
Oldham - A town in denial
At the time of handing over their failed inquiry to the GMCA, Officers at OLDHAM COUNCIL remained in their customary ostrich position with their bum’s in the air. This is what they had to say.
There have been unsubstantiated allegations relating to Oldham Council circulating on social media but if members of the public have evidence of improper actions by individuals or agencies in Oldham they should approach GMP directly with their concerns.
This is a naturally understandable position considering the actions of both JIM McMAHON MP and his protege, SEAN FIELDING. Whilst both have made a series of astonishing decisions to undermine community concerns, SEAN FIELDING has surely outdone his mentor after making a series of reprehensible social media posts including posting a picture where his girlfriend holds up his ripped underwear whilst he describes a sexual fantasy. Shamefully, this tweet was posted in the days immediately after he first agreed to an inquiry.
All this time, SEAN FIELDING and his associates have been pushing a narrative that the concerns that have been raised have been falsified and as well as being ‘bare faced lies’ was intended to stir up racial tensions. Below is his first in a series of statements
Statement responding to allegations on social media about Child Sexual Exploitation
Published: Friday, 13th September 2019
Cllr Sean Fielding, Leader of Oldham Council, said:
“We have become aware of allegations on social media linked to safeguarding issues. The comments have been combined with a series of personal attacks on councillors and the local MP.
“We have no bigger duty or responsibility than the safety and protection our citizens, particularly children and vulnerable adults who are not in a position to protect themselves. It is a responsibility that we take incredibly seriously.
“We work in partnership with the police, health services, schools and many other partners to safeguard children and vulnerable adults, and all reported concerns are investigated.
“What disturbs me is that the comments on social media piece together historic incidents (much of which is in the public domain) over a long period of time to give the impression that the allegations relate to young people at risk today.
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.
“There is a long-standing commitment in Oldham to tackling child sexual exploitation. The Borough was one of the first places nationally to have a co-located, dedicated partnership team tackling child sexual exploitation (CSE).
“The partnership, learning from failings in other areas, has robust methods for preventing and detecting threats to the safety of young people.
“This is supported by awareness raising and training – building the understanding of professionals about the signs of CSE, training staff working in the night-time economy such as hotels, pubs and taxis, and also raising awareness of children and young people about how to keep themselves safe.
“The partnership is vigilant to risks and will always look at concerns that are raised. Sadly, this does not mean that we can stop every incident from occurring which is why everyone has a role to play when it comes to keeping young people safe.
“The partnership is always open to feedback on how we can continually improve the work that we do.
“If anybody has evidence of offences, recent or historic, or concerns about the safety of an individual or group of individuals the responsible thing is not to make allegations on social media but report these concerns to the partnership using the contact below so that they can be properly investigated. We would urge anyone who has such information to contact us.
The far from unsubstantiated allegations
I think its worthwhile to have a quick look at what these so called ‘unsubstantiated allegations’ are and then people can decide for themselves if OLDHAM COUNCIL are still attempting to hide the truth. Which to be fair to them would be no different than every other Labour Party run local authority with a sizeable Muslim vote;
the by now widely circulated dossier of correspondence including Oldham Council, Greater Manchester Police, the BBC and JIM McMAHON whilst Leader of Oldham Council that clearly demonstrates that parents were NOT informed of grooming gangs operating out of a network of shisha bars in Oldham. The emails clearly show JIM McMAHON and the BBC agreeing to use the funeral of LEE RIGBY to keep this news hidden.
the testimony of ex Cllr HUGHIE MacDONALD, where he witnessing children in care being picked up by Asian men from care homes in Oldham. The exact same pattern as found in the damning Manchester grooming report. The paper trail shows that HUGHIE MacDONALD, a 37 year time served magistrate, was forced out of OLDHAM COUNCIL by JIM McMAHON following him raising concerns
the refusal of SEAN FIELDING, or anyone from OLDHAM COUNCIL, to confirm the nature of the Council’s relationship with the leader of the Rochdale Grooming Gang, SHABIR AHMED. I was only made aware by whistleblowers from within OLDHAM COUNCIL that not only did SHABIR AHMED work for OLDHAM COUNCIL, he did so in a role that gave him direct access to vulnerable families and children
concerns raised by members of the public of SHABIR AHMED’s previous employment as a taxi driver and also a specific investigation by Greater Manchester Police in to the now closed taxi firm TELECARS where one whistleblower confirmed that the Police’s failure to prosecute was based on the premises that ‘if we arrested one we wouldn’t know where to stop.’
the failure by JIM McMAHON, whilst Leader of OLDHAM COUNCIL, to make aware the Councillor responsible for safeguarding, correspondence from the Home Affairs Select Committee seeking information on an ongoing complaint by a child victim of gang rape by members of an Asian Grooming Gang. It is my understanding that this victim is currently seeking a Judicial Review regarding the actions of Oldham Council
concerns raised by Youth Workers of children being picked up from outside Council run youth clubs by Asian men
concerns raised by whistleblowers, specifically past support staff in schools including COUNTHILL SCHOOL, that children were regularly rescued from homes where they were ‘hosted’ by Asian men and though concerns were raised, no action was taken against these men
concerns raised by various members of the public regarding abuse in children’s homes, specifically MARIAN WALKER HOUSE.
the coming forward of at least 2 victims of grooming that have taken their stories to the press. Both victims abuse predate 2012/13 and both have evidenced how the Council and its partners, like in Manchester, failed them
Knowing both the historical prejudices of the authorities towards White working class girls and the strong prejudices amongst Asian paedophiles towards White working class girls, it is not surprising that SEAN FIELDING’s Oldham Council is reluctant to open this can of worms. Especially now we know that multiple members of the Rochdale Grooming gang, including the ringleader Shabir Ahmed were from Oldham and that they also serviced a client base in Oldham where they trafficked girls in to the town for other men to abuse.
We now also know that reports of grooming gangs operating in Oldham date back to 2004.
This report details how children as young as 12, many of them involved with Social Services, had been targeted. Whilst the term ‘grooming gangs’ is yet to be introduced, this is what they were describing.
We also have the testimony of former Cllr Hughie MacDonald. A veteran Councillor of over 20 years service, Hughie was also a Magistrate for 37 years. Again, like Nazir Afzal, he is a difficult man to accuse of lying. This is what he had to say
When I was lead for children's services, I saw for myself that there were young Asian men turning up at a children's home in Oldham at about 10pm shouting them out. I said to one of the offices, 'why the ****** hell don't you keep them in' and they said, 'we can't'.
Whilst Oldham Council leader Sean Fielding continues to dodge responding to the legitimate concerns of parents, news is now also coming to me that Shabir Ahmed also held a role in a Children’s Centre. Whilst I cannot confirm this, what I can confirm is that when I asked a Police Detective Chief Inspector if they had investigated SHABIR AHMED’s role in Oldham Council, he replied that previously to me making him aware, he did not know of any connection Shabir Ahmed had with Oldham Council.
I’m forming the opinion that Oldham Council Leader, SEAN FIELDING’s ongoing silence suggests that the information was not just kept from the public, it was also kept from the Police.
Knowing all of this, I have a simple question for Greater Manchester ANDY BURNHAM.
Why is the investigation in OLDHAM not as wide reaching in timescale, scope and remit as offered by his team in Manchester & ROCHDALE?
Is Oldham really any Different?
What is clearly emerging as a running theme from the first story that detailed how JIM McMAHON used the funeral of Lee Rigby to keep news of grooming gangs operating out of Shisha Bars hidden from parents, to everything else that has since emerged, is that just like Rotherham, Rochdale and Huddersfield, Oldham is fertile ground for grooming gangs. In Oldham, as all these other places, these same underlying conditions also exist. They included;
the Council and other statutory agencies reluctant to listen to or believe the victims
the Council and other statutory agencies treating the victims as if an underclass
the Council and other statutory agencies of the opinion that the victims were making informed choice about their sexual behaviour
the prevalent belief in Asian communities that White girls, especially those that are vulnerable such as in the Care System, were dirty and the abuse they suffered was self inflicted
the prevalent belief within Asian communities that Muslim traditions and practices were ‘purer’ than that of the indigenous working class White communities and therefore it was acceptable to treat these White girls in a way that they would not treat females from their own backgrounds
the prevalent attitude within Asian communities to not bring shame on their families and/or communities through which it was easier to keep the activities of the abusers hidden
the prevalent attitude amongst the Police not to want to prosecute these men
the prevalent attitude amongst politicians to not want to upset elements of their core vote, to the extent that on multiple occasions, Councillors gave these paedophiles references and intervened on their behalf when they risked prosecution
the overriding belief amongst the abusers that they would get away with what they were doing because no one cared about the victims they were abusing
the weaponisation of ‘racism’ to scare people from speaking out and when they did, to manipulate legitimate concerns so that they became viewed through a ‘racist’ lens
traditionally segregated communities where young men from Asian communities had minimal positive interaction with young women from White communities thereby helping establish a climate where cultural prejudices were left unchallenged and subsequently flourished
And in the same way that the Grooming Gangs were operating in Oldham, it also appears that here, like everywhere else, for the sake of ‘community relations’, JIM McMAHON, SEAN FIELDING and Dr CAROLYN WILKINS Oldham Council Officers have attempted to keep the activities of the grooming gangs away from public attention. And thereby by doing this, they perpetuated the situation and arguably made it worse.
Even now, when this scandal is top of the list of priorities of local people, tens of thousands watched this where the Police were called and the entire Council and all its Councillors walk out of a Council meeting several times rather than answer a cancer recovering disabled grandmother’s perfectly reasonable question here seeking reassurance that there was not a Council cover up.
Why the reluctance in Oldham?
I cannot help but continue to ask myself, why is SEAN FIELDING and OLDHAM COUNCIL attempting to restrict the investigations in Oldham? Is it because JIM McMAHON is implicated? Is it because they risk losing the Asian Muslim Labour vote? Or is it even more sinister and that the actual offenders and the CRIMINAL CARTELS that they belong to have infiltrated OLDHAM COUNCIL?
I personally do not believe that the failure to investigate is about the lack of resources or anything to do with fear of being branded racist or political correctness. I believe these to be excuses to blame other political parties and more worryingly divide and demonise communities.
It is my view that in these Labour Party controlled towns and cities, the Asian Muslim vote is all powerful. As shown in the recent General Election, in constituencies across England and Wales, where the Labour Party managed to hold on to seats, in many instances they did so because of the block Asian Muslim vote. To the Labour Party, it is my opinion, that holding on to these seats matters more safeguarding white working class girls from the Asian Muslim Grooming Gangs.
Consequently, I am not at all surprised at how the LABOUR PARTY supporting local media and their pet journalists are already beginning to report on the damning findings of the GMCA investigation. The reluctance is not something that is unique to Oldham. Nor is it sadly a new reluctance.
On the 19th October 2018, in a BBC Radio 4 interview, Nazir Afzal gave an astounding interview. For those unfamiliar with the name, Nazir Afzal is the former North West Prosecutor who led in reversing a Crown Prosecution Service decision and successfully prosecuted the notorious Rochdale rape gang. It was only after Nazir Afzal’s original brave stand that report after report later emerged to confirm that the police and local councils had failed in their duty of care in similar circumstances in towns and cities across the country.
In this interview, he first shares his opinion that the grooming and abuse of young girls in this manner had been going on for two decades and ‘that we’ve lost a generation of young girls that have been left behind and abused.’ Of perhaps greater concern is what Nazir Afzal subsequently shares.
‘You may not know this, but back in 2008 the Home office sent a circular to all police forces in the country saying ‘as far as these young girls who are being exploited in towns and cities, we believe they have made an informed choice about their sexual behaviour and therefore it is not for you police officers to get involved in.’ If that’s the landscape coming down from the top down in 2008, rest assured all agencies are going to listen to it.’
I don’t think there is anyone who genuinely believe that Nazir Afzal would make such a thing up. If we are to believe him (and I for one do believe him) then it indicates that as far back as 2008, the Home Office already knew about these Gooming Gangs and how they were grooming, raping and trafficking underage girls in towns and cities across the country. Instead of intervening to protect these children, we now learn that the Government wilfully instructed the police not to investigate. Nazir Afzal ends by clearly stating ‘that if we’d done our jobs properly, this generation of girls would not have suffered.’ I’ve attached a link to Nazir Afzal’s interview here.
Community Relations and the fear of calling a racist a racist
Separate to these historical institutional prejudices, an underlying factor of these grooming gangs has been that they are made up of men from Muslim South Asian (Pakistani & Bangladeshi) backgrounds who have almost exclusively abused White working class young girls. Whilst there has been ongoing arguments to the racial nature of these crimes, what is impossible to deny is that many people, including victims, believe that a primary factor in why these predominantly Pakistani and Muslim men did what they did was because they believed that these White girls were culturally and religiously inferior to them.
The Macpherson Report clearly defines a racist incident as ‘any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person’. If we are to apply this universally accepted definition for a racially motivated crimes, then it is impossible to conclude anything other than that these were racially motivated crimes.
Unfortunately, this belief of inferiority towards White working class girls is not something that can be attributed to first generation immigrants. Many of the members of these grooming gangs were born and raised in the UK. Exactly like other racist beliefs, they would have acquired this prejudice from their environment - family, friends, community, social circles and wider interactions including the mosques. This prejudice is not historical. It is alive and well in 21st century British Asian Muslim society.
Whilst the prejudices of the Police and Council towards vulnerable working class White girls may now no longer the same, in the communities where I was raised the prejudices remain just as strong. Only recently, I was reminded of how embedded this cultural prejudices is in Oldham. Here is a quote from Mohammed Ali Rahan, if he was not born here, he arrived in the UK as a very small child. I know him because his family lived on the next street to the one I was raised on.
Raja Miah, the thing you don’t understand is not every community’s women are spreading their legs over to any men on the streets. In my community there’s only 5% that spread their legs to any men on the streets and in your community there’s 95% who spread their legs on the streets. This is the difference between me and you
Unfortunately, the truth is that as abhorrent as Mohammed Ali Rahan’s post is, his view is not a rare one. His position is simple really, that White girls are dirty and therefore deserve to be abused. It is their ‘lifestyle choice’.
In addition to it being a lifestyle choice, a common prejudice held towards these victims was that they could not be believed and that they were liars. Here once more is Mohammed Ali Rahan to help explain this in a way that is beyond my skillset.
…we need to be aware of those girls on the street spreading their legs over to any men on the streets and then accuse them of rape and all sorts just for compensation.
A failure to educate
Having been subjected to this racist rant from someone I shared a history with, when the Manchester report was published, I could not avoid being reminded that one of the failings was that instead of dealing with the perpetrators, the Authorities focused on trying to educate these young girls of what they should be doing to keep themselves safe. That’s right, it was up to children to be responsible to protect themselves from paedophiles. As someone who has spent my professional career working at every level in safeguarding young people I was astounded at this approach. Let me take a moment to explain.
In any area of risk to young people, the accepted practice is to take a multiple stranded approach. Of course we work with those at risk and raise their awareness to help safeguard them. This is standard practice. As is the need to educate and raise the understanding of professionals so that they can spot the danger signs earlier, intervene appropriately and make sure that past mistakes are not repeated.
Yet there is a THIRD strand that exists in all other areas of safeguarding children that seems to have been omitted here - the need to work with those who demographically fit the profile of the perpetrators.
I conducted a quick review of existing Local Authority practice across Greater Manchester. I did not find one single intervention that works with young men from Asian Muslim backgrounds to challenge negative perceptions that are ingrained in their communities towards White working class girls. Nor did I find any research as to why it was that these attitudes were prevalent amongst Muslim young men of Pakistani & Bangladeshi heritage. Instead, the academic field appears to be engaged in a rear guard action of attempting to view this phenomenon through any other lens than a racial one. That’s right, they are maintaining a position that this has nothing to do with race even though the perpetrators in these grooming gangs are consistently Pakistani & Bangladeshi men and the victims are almost exclusively White working class girls.
An ordinary person, like me, may think that this is the exact reason why we have ended up in the mess that we have.
A failure to report
And so we reach the elephant in the room. I have no clearer way of demonstrating this other than simply using the articles written by the lead journalist at the MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, none other than chief cheerleader of the privileged white fake liberal cosmopolitan elite, JENNIFER WILLIAMS.
I’m not surprised that our town halls and universities are all filled with individuals like Ms WILLIAMS who refuse to view this through a racial lens. This doesn’t surprise me, they all live in areas like Chorlton and have zero lived experience of the challenges that working class communities face. Whilst quick to call out White working class communities for being racist (even though she and her kind have no understanding or experience of the reality of their lives) these university educated PC brigade feminists will do anything but call the abuse of White working class girls by Asian Muslim men racism.
Here is a link to Ms Williams so called I’m so angry opinion piece. Read it. Please read it. You will see not one mention of the racial background of the victims nor of the racial or religious backgrounds of the perpetrators. Instead she has decided that its all about power and that men are to blame. I’m not sure how she has got to this conclusion but there you have it.
No Ms Williams, what you and every other privileged white fake liberal cosmopolitan elite needs to get in to your professional middle class brains is that this isn’t about power at all, it is about race and the systematic abuse of girls from working class White communities.
Now, and more worryingly, is it any surprise that in this article where she finally reported the news with (after the MEN had failed to report on it in the past and now FORCED to do so because it made the nationals) you will see her doing her best and avoiding referring to the demographic backgrounds of the victims? Why could that be? Why is it hard for these people that run our public institutions to view working class WHITE people as victims of racism? Even her quote from the investigation is carefully selected where the racial background of the victims are omitted.
‘There was clear evidence that professionals at the time were aware the young people were being sexually exploited and that this was perpetrated by a group of older Asian men’.
I do not believe that Ms Williams and the MENs censorship of the demographic backgrounds of the victims is at all accidental. And as long as this continues, so too I believe will the abuse of White working class girls by Asian Muslim Grooming Gangs. I am genuinely shocked at this omission.
A failure to understand 21st Century racism
Those who have read my articles will know that this has been a recurring theme throughout all of my reflections. We are in the mess that we are because there is a professional middle class that are over represented in all spears of public life. Not only do they have no understanding of working class communities, these people only view our people as a commodity that can be used to further their careers and/or personally benefit them. They nether understand us nor care about us.
And that is why white working class children were ultimately failed by this privileged elite. In the hierarchy of race and political value, the white working class find themselves at the bottom. And as far as I’m concerned failing to recognise that these victims were WHITE makes those like JENNIFER WILLIAMS and all the other privileged white fake liberal cosmopolitan elite that occupy prominent roles in our town halls nothing more complicated than racists themselves. Or in other words, if not paedophile protectors, they are most definitely paedophile enablers.
Raja Miah MBE