Thousands of British girls have been sexually abused, raped or held as sex slaves in recent decades by so-called "grooming gangs", often led by people of Pakistani origin.
Despite the systematic and widespread nature of the abuse, it was covered up by the British authorities – and the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is held responsible for the cover-up in his former role as Attorney General.
As early as the late 1980s, young vulnerable girls in several towns in the north of England began to be exploited by Pakistani gangs. The girls were drugged with drugs or alcohol and subjected to serious rape.
It has since emerged that the authorities failed to intervene – partly for fear of being accused of "racism".
– I want to see those responsible held accountable for gross misconduct, former police officer Maggie Oliver told Swedish state broadcaster SVT, which recently released a documentary about the events.
The misconduct led Oliver to resign and instead become one of the most prominent critics of government inaction.
"They stole my childhood"
Oliver is far from alone in his criticism, with foreign commentators such as Trump advisor Elon Musk also drawing attention to the scandal and attacking the UK government.
"They should receive the severest punishment. Hang them for treason", he wrote in a statement in early January.
Good. They should receive the severest punishment. Hang them for treason.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2025
The fact that Pakistani grooming and pedophile gangs have been able to continue their rampage for decades despite the alerts about the abuses has led to widespread public anger against British politicians and authorities. Many believe that the country's leaders have blood on their hands and are heavily complicit in the destruction of the girls' lives.
– The only way to cope was to turn everything off. They stole my childhood, says Elisabeth, who was 14 the first time she was raped.
She says she was held captive in an apartment and raped daily by different men.
– These men destroyed lives, and the authorities helped them do it, she continues.
"A cover-up"
Elisabeth was left in the apartment of the pedophile network despite being a minor, and she is far from alone in suffering from the authorities' betrayal, with the police failing to act.
– It was a cover-up. They didn't want it to be known that these kinds of sexual crimes were going on in the country, explains Maggie Oliver.
Many believe that the UK's highest political leadership bears ultimate responsibility for the failure to stop the pedophile network – with Prime Minister Keir Starmer being singled out for blame in the cover-up scandal.
Mr. Starmer was the former Attorney General and was formally ultimately responsible when a huge number of child sexual abuse cases were ignored or covered up by the authorities.
– There was no one higher up to turn to. So I think he is complicit and knew exactly what was going on and he let it continue to happen. To me, that's inexcusable, Oliver further argues.
Starmer insists on his innocence
The fact that British establishment politicians have rejected a national investigation into the scandal has further strengthened allegations of a cover-up – with critics seeing the unwillingness to get to the bottom of it as evidence of trying to protect themselves and their friends.
Starmer himself claims to have done nothing wrong, saying instead that he "tackled that problem head on".
– I reopened cases that had been closed and supposedly finished, I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang, he claims.
Keir Starmer: no inquiry into grooming gangs, everyone calling for one is far-Right, know your place, your betters have spoken. pic.twitter.com/cbFJTbyH31
— Sam Ashworth-Hayes (@SAshworthHayes) January 6, 2025
Others point out that not only have leading politicians acted far too late – but that the problems have still not been addressed, and that British girls are still being systematically abused by foreign gangs.
Rotherham, an English town of just over 100,000 people, is often cited as the prime example of the corruption and incompetence of the authorities. By the early 1990s, abuses were already well known in the town – but despite politicians and police being alerted on numerous occasions, the abuses continued for decades. Despite the city's small size, it is estimated that at least 1,400 girls were exploited, raped or sold as sex slaves in the city between the late 1980s and 2013.
