Andy Burnham defends Greater Manchester inquiry into grooming gangs

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has defended past inquiries into child sexual exploitation in the region – but added he “welcomes discussion” about a national review.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Burnham accused other politicians of “making grand comments” when they had “shown no interest” in the review he ordered in 2017 into allegations made in the BBC documentary The Betrayed Girls about child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester.

The independent review looked into grooming in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale, and found authorities failed to protect children from paedophile gangs in each area.

After being asked about recent calls for a national inquiry, he told the programme: “It’s interesting that you asked me that question, because it suggests that you do not know what I have already done.

“There has been, and is, an ongoing major inquiry, and there has been a substantial report into what happened in Oldham.

“And as a result of that inquiry, there is a major police investigation, and as a result, there have been multiple arrests, charges and convictions… and I think it’s a danger because rather than dealing with facts, people are going straight to propaganda.”

It comes after Elon Musk claimed safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.

Ms Phillips said in a letter to the local council that Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns such as Rotherham and Telford and commission its own inquiry into historical abuse of children.

Referring to the independent inquiry he ordered in 2017, Mr Burnham added: “That led to a report on Manchester. It led to a report on Oldham, which was requested by Oldham Council.

“And it led to a third report on Rochdale, which was published pretty much a year ago, and you’ll remember the coverage of that.

“We’re now in a final stage of that inquiry, which is looking at whether the public here can have confidence now that things are as they should be.”

Mr Burnham also defended Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as director of public prosecutions after the Prime Minister was accused by Mr Musk and ex-Greater Manchester Police detective turned whistleblower Maggie Oliver of not doing enough to bring gangs to justice.

He said: “As director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer made fundamental changes to address the problem that’s at the heart of this, which is when victims came forward.

“In the past, the response, the immediate response, often, was not to believe those girls when they came forward, and not to take forward those investigations.

“And that’s what the review that I have ordered has revealed, and he made changes so that the victims were heard and what they said was acted upon.”

He added: “I welcome the discussion of whether there should be a national inquiry.

“All I hear is lots of politicians who have shown no interest in the investigation I ordered, who are now making grand statements about it.”