Tom Crowther KC to work with Oldham Council on a Telford-style inquiry into child sexual exploitation
Oldham Council will collaborate with Tom Crowther KC, who led Telford's inquiry into child sexual exploitation, to develop a new inquiry into abuse. The announcement was welcomed by Oldham Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader Howard Sykes MBE and made by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP.
Oldham Council will launch a fresh inquiry into child sexual exploitation, with Tom Crowther KC—who led Telford’s landmark review—appointed to shape the investigation, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced in the Commons last week.
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Oldham Council, hailed the move as “a long-overdue step in the right direction” after years of survivor-led campaigning. “It has taken years of campaigning to finally get to a stage where survivors are being heard by the government,” Sykes said. “Oldham Liberal Democrats are ready to work to get proper justice for Oldham. We fully expect the Labour-controlled council to get behind this process and engage openly and we hope that the government will give the new inquiry the proper powers it needs to pursue justice.”
Josh Babarinde MP, the party’s justice spokesperson and himself an abuse survivor, warned against further delays: “Too many survivors’ stories have been ignored, hidden or gaslit. And recently, too many stories have been used as a political football. The work to get these inquiries set up must start now.”
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