History won’t be kind to those who ignored grooming gang whistleblowers

The public is yet again up in arms about the cover up of the violence, sexual attacks and rape perpetrated by grooming gangs against their child victims. Yet this scandal apparently continues to go almost unnoticed by the battalions of professionals in the UK paid to keep children safe.

Less than a week ago, those of us who work with whistleblowers and victims of these odious crimes were being labelled “far-Right extremists”, amid further allegations about our egos and motives. Surely after successive grooming gangs have been exposed across the country – Telford, Rochdale, Rotherham, Oldham, Derbyshire, Oxford – someone should say “enough is enough”.

It is time for the Government to jump to the protection of the victims and to start investigating the information brought forward by whistleblowers. And it is just as important to investigate why more people did not speak up and identify those responsible for the cover up.

I suspect that the treatment of previous whistleblowers may well be part of the answer. My organisation has been working with them for ten years, and watched as one by one they were picked off. Many have been subjected to years of punishment for trying to protect children.

Too many professionals who raised concerns about the rape and abuse of children quickly became persona non grata and exited amidst allegations about their conduct. Indeed, my own experience of being arrested after providing evidence of child sexual exploitation to the authorities was a catalyst for setting up WhistleblowersUK.

Since then we have met hundreds of others with similar experiences. Jayne Senior – who did so much to expose grooming gangs in Rotherham – is one of those who found themselves the target of investigation for speaking up.

The evidence is overwhelming that the laws set in place to “protect” children and whistleblowers has failed. Whistleblowing is not an employment issue and is often a criminal issue, yet in over 25 years of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, not a single case has been escalated by the employment tribunal.

In the case of the grooming gangs, meanwhile, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the Attorney General and even the Prime Minister are flip flopping about on what is best for us based on revelation after grim revelation. Many politicians will find themselves on the wrong side of history.

WhistleblowersUK is leading the campaign for an Office of the Whistleblower, a Bill that is – for the fifth time – being considered by Parliament. Surely with all of the support and admiration shown to those who helped bring the grooming gangs scandal to light, the need to protect those involved in exposing future scandals is clearer than ever.

Georgina Halford-Hall is chief executive of Whistleblowers UK