This week, the Government finally agreed to hold a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal and Richard appeared on BBC Politics Live to discuss it.
Speaking afterwards, Richard Fuller MP said:
I welcome the government's acceptance that a national inquiry is needed into the rape gangs that have operated across dozens of our towns and cities, often seemingly with impunity from the agencies who should have been protecting our children.
I agree wholeheartedly with Kemi Badenoch that getting justice for the people and families affected should be at the heart of this inquiry.
For too long, national and local politicians, police forces, social workers and even the judiciary appear to have accepted a notion that it is ok for different communities in our country to operate under different rules and values because of cultural differences in their backgrounds.
Whether this acceptance was because of a misguided commitment to multiculturalism over everything else, or a fear of being accused of racism, the consequence of looking away was that these heinous crimes, rather than being punished, ultimately flourished.
I am afraid that I do think the Prime Minister was wrong to label those raising this issue as “far right' and his Leader of the House, Lucy Powell was wrong to describe calls for an inquiry 'dog whistle politics'.
I think it is important that all in political office take the lead in reflecting on the consequence of a political consensus that sapped the critical thinking that would have led to much earlier intervention.
Politicians should lift their heads out of the sand and work together across party lines to bring justice to those thousands of children, women and families who have been affected by this scandal and to hold to account those who abdicated responsibility and allowed it to happen.
The full discussion on BBC's Politics Live can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/SX0tAjWtMTQ
