Lucy Powell apologises to grooming gang survivors over ‘dog whistle’ remarks

Lucy Powell has issued an apology after she was accused of “dismissing” concerns over grooming gangs.

Powell, the leader of the House of Commons, said she was “very sorry” for her remarks and apologised for “any distress” she has caused survivors.

The statement came after Jesse Norman, the shadow commons leader, said his opposite number had received “universal condemnation for dismissing concerns” about grooming gangs as “dog whistle politics”.

Powell comments came during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions programme last week.

Speaking in the commons after delivering the weekly business statement, Powell said: “I am very sorry for those remarks, as I made clear over the weekend. I and every member of this government want your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads.

“Your truly appalling experiences need to be acted on, for those responsible to be accountable and face the full force of the law and for justice to be served.

“I would never want to leave the impression that these very serious, profound and far-reaching issues, which I have campaigned on for many years, should be shied away from and not aired. Far from it. No stone will be left unturned.

“And what the victims want first and foremost is for action to be taken and for the many, many recommendations from the previous inquiries to be implemented in full, including mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse – something I have called for for nearly a decade.

“Shockingly these recommendations remained sitting on the shelf until we came into government last year.

“Baroness Louise Casey, who conducted the no holds barred inquiry into Rotherham, is carrying out an audit on the scale, nature and characteristics of grooming gangs. She will be reporting soon. This will include the questions of ethnicity, as well.

“Every police force in England and Wales has been asked to look again at historic grooming gang cases and they will be reopened where it is appropriate to get perpetrators behind bars.

“So I hope the House is left in no doubt of my commitment to these issues and my apology to those victims for any distress I have caused them.”

Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.