Even after Rotherham the vile abuse of girls goes on

THE authorities in Newcastle upon Tyne should be hanging their heads in shame. In an absolutely appalling mirror image of the dreadful goings-on in Rotherham, it has emerged that at least 700 vulnerable girls and young women were raped, abused and trafficked by Asian and Eastern European gangs.

And, just as in Rotherham, it was the girls who got the blame.

How could it possibly have come to this? Have we turned into a society so devoid of sympathy and understanding that we coldheartedly sent these girls to their fate? The very people who had the right to seek the most protection were the ones who were the most badly betrayed. What kind of country ignores and even blames the victims of sexual trafficking while turning a blind eye to the depraved monsters who are committing the abuse?

We know a great deal of it lies in the fact that the authorities were afraid of being accused of racism and indeed they were justified in those fears.

Jeremy Corbyn, after all, forced Sarah Champion out of the shadow cabinet because she dared to point out that “Britain had a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”.

But the rest of us might just think that Corbyn and his ilk are part of this horrendous problem because they refuse to accept what is patently obvious to everyone else.

Every authority in the country should be examining its own behaviour and if it emerges that even now further abuses are taking place, they must clamp down. This cannot be allowed to happen again.