I could spot this abuse, so why didn’t the police?
As A former Rotherham resident looking to return to the town, I’m dismayed by the disclosures of the past few days. At the height of the sex abuse scandal I was at school and look back on that time fondly — but I can’t say the same for some of my classmates and peers.
some friends and other pupils had older boyfriends who showered them with gifts such as perfume and jewellery, and as teens we would ooh and aah as they told us of their pickups and days out in cars. It didn’t feel sinister, just grown-up — until I realised the nature of these gifts.
Visits to Rotherham town centre could be disturbing — my friends and I would be beeped at or whistled at by packs of men in cars or hanging around. We ignored them, but not every girl was as strong-willed.
Hundreds must have been lured into horrific situations by cheeky flattery and banter. Where were the adults who were supposed to stop this exploitation?
The most disturbing part of the revelations has been use of the word ‘consent’, with social workers, police and council officials claiming girls as young as 12 ‘ consented’ to relationships with older men.
We should stop pretending that children are miniature adults, capable of understanding the magnitude of their decisions. To be an impressionable child and have adults turn a blind eye to you being abused is the worst betrayal of trust.
Rotherham was the perfect breeding-ground for this abuse, a melting pot of girls lacking confidence and aspirations, an emerging Pakistani community encouraged to get involved in town life, and a government and police force terrified of being accused of inciting racial hatred. We, as a town, let down our children. Action needs to be taken to bring more culprits to justice.
CATHERINE HILLIS, Leeds. FOR the past 15 years, the legal, political, media and educational establishments have suppressed reports and investigations into lawbreaking by ethnic minorities.
New Labour’s fixation with sending anyone working in the public sector on repeated ‘inclusivity’, ‘diversity’ and ‘ethnic awareness’ courses has amounted to political indoctrination on a vast scale. Attendees are obliged to learn about ‘positive discrimination’ and ‘the rights of minority cultures’ — and, more sinister, ways to discredit those who disagree or who have had unpleasant experiences of members of minority groups.
My experiences when living and working in West Yorkshire were sufficient for me to leave the area.
They included being beaten up by a bunch of Pakistani boys while undertaking work on a Methodist church (the street was supposedly a no-go area for anyone who wasn’t Islamic) and being accused of a ‘racially aggravated attack on a minor’ when I apprehended a young hoody (who turned out to be of Pakistani origin) who was breaking into my property.
I was educated as a liberal-minded Quaker in an environment in which all members of ethnic minorities were looked upon as ‘angels in disguise’.
Living in the real world (which most of our liberal establishment seem to know little about), it has taken me nearly 50 years to come back down to earth.
The irony is the message I get from my Pakistani-origin friends is they never asked for the favours that our white liberal elite has granted them. R. D. WOLSTENHOLME,
Penrith, Cumbria. IT’s all too easy to blame frontline social workers for not dealing with the ‘industrial scale’ child abuse in Rotherham (Mail).
But what would have happened to anyone who had pointed the finger at Asian gangs? The BBC would have pounced, the police would have arrested them and the CPs would have prosecuted.
Go back and watch the BBC’s secret Agent documentary. The evidence of abuse by Asian gangs was totally ignored, and it became a matter of ‘ shoot the “racist” messenger’. Then BNP leader Nick Griffin was prosecuted for ‘racism’ for trying to raise the subject.
so why blame the social workers for keeping their mouths shut? It was the ‘law’, as enforced at that time by the police and CPs, encouraged by much of the media.
A. R. NORTH, Brixham, Devon.
Our unholy times
To HAVE a healthy and fair society we need the Ten Commandments.
The sixth Commandment speaks loudly: ‘Thou shalt not kill (murder).’ sadly, today we no longer fear God, but we do fear the violence of man.
Blame in part is due to Church leaders who have undermined the authority of the Holy Bible, and to our atheistic politicians and media writers who want ethics but have no sure basis for them.
I hope the millions of Islamic people living in the UK who enjoy liberties here that are denied to Christians in other countries will be speaking out loud and clear.
The sight of the U.s. journalist being beheaded was unforgettable. We all need to pray for wisdom.
JOSEPH HEWITT, Holland-on-Sea, Essex.
Keep the nuclear family
IT’s understandable that people should be concerned about having a nuclear waste facility in their area (Letters).
But the technology has advanced a lot since the world’s first nuclear power station opened in Calder Hall in 1956. There are now more than 430 operational nuclear power stations worldwide. Britain has 16, supplying 18 per cent of our energy needs, but many of these were built soon after Calder Hall, when we were world leaders in the field, and are now ready for decommissioning.
France has 56 stations supplying 76 per cent of the country’s energy and recycles much of its nuclear waste.
China is another world leader, with the most efficient and reportedly safest nuclear power technology. This is why the Chinese will lead the building of our next nuclear power station.
Hopefully, we can regain our expertise and move forward in the field of nuclear power, which is the only viable alternative to fossil fuels for meeting future energy needs. MERVYN WILLIAMS,
Huddersfield.
A tip for Kate Bush
IF KATE BUSH’s voice has lost its upper register and she can’t sing Wuthering Heights ( Mail), she should call on comedienne and impressionist Faith Brown, who used to do a wicked impression of her on the Who Do You Do? show on ITV in the late seventies.
During a dimming of the lights, Faith could swap places with Kate and belt out Wuthering Heights to rapturous applause.
Then there could be a bit more light dimming as the song ends; exit Faith and enter Kate. simple. If Britney, Dolly and Madonna can cheat a bit on stage, why not Kate?
P. WRIGHT, Datchet, Berks.
Windowless trains
NEVER mind jets with no windows — windowless train travel is already here (Mail). Ask anyone who has travelled from London to Glasgow in a Virgin Pendolino train.
I was unfortunate enough recently to be booked into seat D6 at one end of the carriage, and found myself about to travel for five hours in a low-roofed, windowless space about the size of the lower half of a telephone box. A large passenger took up the space on my right; there was a blank wall on my left.
I paid about £70 for this, but feelings of claustrophobia quickly overcame me. Fortunately, Virgin staff kindly redirected me to a carriage with spare seats. DEIRDRE BARRIE,
Enfield, Middx .
Balding’s blunders
CLARE BALDING doesn’t seem to know the difference between a combine harvester and a tractor-and-baler (Mail).
The combine collects grain in a big chamber, then shoots the straw in rows from the back, ready for the tractor and baler. That’s what happens on my farm, anyway.
SHIRLEY CROSS, West Winterslow, Wilts. I WAs pleased to read Clare Balding’s recommendation of walking backwards for the good of your health. I saw Chinese people walking backwards in parks during my honeymoon in Beijing in 1998 and found it an excellent exercise.
I just hope all the dog-walkers and runners in my area now realise I’m not crazy after all. SARAH PALMER,
Yateley, Hants. CAN Clare Balding really claim to have invented Mo Farah’s ‘mobot’ gesture (Mail)? The Abbagirls band that I manage performs in south Korea at least once a year. The first year we went there, in 2008, the promoters asked if all our band members could make this sign on their final bow, the sign of the heart.
They did and all the audience responded with the same sign, to cheers of approval.
COLIN CROSS, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.