UK Home secretary Yvette Cooper has issued an “unequivocal apology” over the failure of the British state to protect young girls from predatory grooming gangs over 16 years, as she confirmed a full national inquiry into the scandal. The recent Casey Inquiry found a large proportion of the perpetrators were men from Asian ethnic backgrounds. A culture of “blindness, ignorance and prejudice” led to repeated failures over decades to investigate. Asylum seekers and foreign nationals are involved in a “significant proportion” of live police investigations into child sex grooming gangs.
Lady Casey said she had been “outraged, shocked and appalled” at the treatment of victims by authorities that were supposed to be protecting them. “We are talking about multiple sexual assaults committed against children by multiple men on multiple occasions, beatings and gang rapes,” Casey added.
This recent report comes 10 years after she wrote a damning report into the culture of denial at Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where at least 1,400 children were sexually abused by grooming gangs between 1997 and 2013.
Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer believed that “the grooming scandal was one of the greatest failures in our country’s history despite previously having criticized those calling for an inquiry as “jumping on a bandwagon” and “amplifying what the far right is saying”. Elon Musk was one of the most recent voices to make an impact on the subject. The inquiry will be time limited and build on the work done by Alexis Jay, who carried out an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.
Whether even a shortened inquiry (three years!) will do much to overcome the ‘analysis paralysis’ of previous inquiries such as Grenfell, the infected blood scandal, the ongoing Covid inquiries and earlier child abuse investigations remains to be seen. Alexis Jay who completed a seven year inquiry with a report whose recommendations were barely acted on, pleaded for “action not words.”
Baroness Louise Casey, 29 March 1965 Portsmouth, England, is a crossbench peer with a background in Shelter, the Rough Sleepers’ Unit, the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit, Troubled Families, leading a review of culture and standards in the Metropolitan Police in London following the murder of Sarah Everard as well as into Rotherham child abuse failures.
She has an upfront Aries Sun conjunct Venus; and a heavy-duty Mars Uranus Pluto opposition Saturn square North Node in Gemini which will give her the depth and courage to go into the darkness and not be deterred by what she finds. Mars Pluto Saturn is a tough combination.
Alexis Jay, 25 April 1949, Edinburgh, who wrote the earlier child abuse report, is a steady, determined Sun Venus in Taurus square Pluto; with Mars in Aries conjunct North Node trine Saturn in Leo sextile Uranus. Again she has a heavily aspected Mars tied into the North Node.
Everything has been said before on this subject see: previous post 4 January 2025 – Child Sexual Abuse – too terrible to face ++ ultra-liberal fascism ++ ‘social and state failure’ ++ foreign males commit more sex crimes.
But I wondered about the UK’s 8th house Mars being triggered by the Solar Arc Uranus conjunction at the moment – opening up the sewers. Transiting Pluto in Scorpio in the 1980s/to late 1990s brought a good deal of buried sexual horror to the surface, culminating in the horrific Fred/Rosemary West trial.
Keir Starmer’s Government chart also has Mars Uranus in the 8th which may reflect financial instabilities but could also relate to the resistance to facing up to the grooming gangs. Especially since the Government chart has a ‘caring’ Sun, Moon, Venus in Cancer in the 10th = wanting to look good, but that trines Saturn and sextiles Mars Uranus which has an entirely different feel. There is an intense, emotionally fraught Pluto in the 5th house of children opposition Mercury, making this one of the key issues of Starmer’s Term. Not that Labour are alone in turning a blind eye since the Tories did no better.
My final thought is that ethnicity and religion are really not the key factors – it is more the deeply entrenched tribal background of immigrants from misogynistic cultures which are about four hundred years behind ours, which is the problem.
Add On: Two other women who stood up to be counted.
Former Labour MP Ann Cryer who attracted media attention, and death threats, for speaking out against forced marriages, honour killings, calling on immigrants to learn to speak English before entering the country, and for being amongst the first people to talk about the issue of gangs of Asian men sexually abusing children in Yorkshire. Born 13 December 1939 she is a Sun Sagittarius square Mars in Pisces, and square Neptune opposition Jupiter, and trine Saturn South Node in Aries. Outspoken, pro-active, idealistic, self-reliant with a confident Jupiter trine Pluto.
Maggie Oliver, 23 October 1955, a former Detective Constable with Manchester Police, who was a whistleblower for exposing the poor handling of the Rochdale child sex abuse ring case by her own force and had to resign.
She has a Sun Neptune conjunct in Libra sextile a confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo; with her Pluto in an ultra-determined conjunction Mars. Not a lady who does things by halves.
ADD ON: June 22 Sunday Times Matthew Syed.
“The missing link in the grooming gangs report: cousin marriage.”
“Many abusers are linked not just by blood but by loyalty to their clan, a system unfamiliar to westerners.”
“Cousin marriage sustains close-kin networks which incentivise clan members both to dehumanise out-group victims and to suppress knowledge of criminal activity to preserve family honour.”
The Labour Party/Councils may not be the only ones involved in the grooming gangs. However what is interesting is that much of what happened politically and its astrology – in the 1960’s – is now undergoing a sextile in those specific astrological charts. Like the beginning of the constant flow of immigration from Pakistan and other ex Colonial countries and subsequent Racial law Bill, are now being or going to be challenged over the next few years. Perhaps this current Labour Government has to face their own journey in the opening up and undermining the British people with their one sided Race Laws? As that help to hide what happened! It gave these men power to do what they liked.
Well done Baroness Casey . I hope justice gets done
I really do hope so.
So many children are left without the state protection in so many other cases.
I’m sure we can remember social services cases whete children died under the vigilance of schools, etc etc Little Sarah is an example that comes to mind.
Although I’m sure Im not aware of many details about these grooming gangs, I’m surprised that the public and these reports are failing to talk about the girls parents, but in otjer cases where social services were involved, the parents were the first to be blamed.
Im not saying these grooming gangs or their ethnicity aren’t a fact, however I can’t help to notice some might be using their ethnicity to their advantage, as always.
This has been going on for years. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Alexis Jay published its report in October 2022 after a 7 year investigation. All of this information was revealed then and Jay was scathing about failures by public bodies to protect children. There was a similar outcry at the time yet almost nothing has been done since and here they are talking about setting up yet another long drawn out public inquiry. It appears that they don’t actually want to do anything about it and it will continue to happen.
Thanks Marjorie. Baroness Casey is a very impressive woman I think. Like VF, I hope (almost against hope) we can learn from this, and most vitally, take whatever action is required as soon as possible. I agree about the cultural abyss. It is and has been an ongoing problem that’s been largely ignored so far.
I looked up former MP Ann Cryer, 14 December 1939 (bbc info). She raised serious concerns about grooming gangs in her then constituency, Keighly, back in 2002. She had a terrible time afterwards, being threatened and having to have an alarm fitted at home and police protection – she received death threats. She’s said that at the time she had no idea of the sheer scale of the abuse across numerous towns and cities.
Ann Cryer’s natal Uranus is 18 Taurus, so opposes UK Neptune in Scorpio, and squares UK Venus in Aquarius. I see this current Government’s Mars is 19 Taurus, and Alexis Jay’s Mercury. So much for current statements citing the ‘past fifteen years’ (ie the Tories), this hideous issue goes back to the 1990’s at least. Nobody comes out looking smug. Neptunian confusion and scandal?
Ann’s natal Chiron aligns with the UK Cancer Moon, while the Government’s Chiron, 23 Aries, aligns with Ann Cryer’s natal Saturn in Aries. The UK SA South Node is at 23 Aries, suggesting a fight emerging from the past perhaps. There’s certainly a heavy burden of S Node karma to face up to, one way or another. It would be amazing if Parliament all apologised for this, instead of scoring points off each other, and sidelining the victims yet again.
I noticed, too, that the Government’s 29 Pisces Neptune is in line for September’s Solar Eclipse in Virgo, with added Neptune and Saturn influences. Ann Cryer’s natal Jupiter is also 29 Pisces. Perhaps more will emerge later this summer.
Just to add – tr Chiron is currently around 25 Aries. Alexis Jay has her natal Mars, 26 Aries. Baroness Casey has Mercury 23 Aries. Government Chiron 23 Aries, Ann Cryer Saturn 24 Aries. As Jupiter in “maternal” Cancer crossed the UK Moon in September, Mars in Libra will square it, and then move on to the sensitive Chiron degree just before the Solar Eclipse and Autumn Equinox. This seems like yet another crisis point to me, and hopefully a catalyst for change.
The steely determination of these people is awe-inspiring.
Driven perhaps by charts packed with squares and conjunctions.
Would you guys say that there is something about the UK that these kinds of crimes are more frequent, more talked about, more dealt with, more in the public eye, or anything like that – compared to other parts of the world?
Although everyone is talking about consequences, and there seems to be little talk of causes and possible solutions (e.g. chemical castration, which I think is in effect by law in North Macedonia, for example).
The UK’s Charity Commission was much worse than Australia in investigating abuse in the Jehovah’s Witness organization. It took a lot of pressure to even get them to investigate followed by a very weak conclusion. Nine years they investigated, then they concluded they didn’t have jurisdiction over it and ended in self congratulations that it was finally concluded with no protection or even a word of condemnation after victims went through hell reliving their rapes and abuse.
They were just another part of the abuse. I always thought it was a horrible institution but now it seems to be part of some broader UK policy to turn a blind eye and choice not to protect children. Britain’s dark Oliver Twist thread.
@El Aznar, it’s not just the UK.
The US has had its own similar problems, not with ethnic grooming gangs but with the Boy Scouts, Catholic and evangelical churches and cults that have used their political and social power to hide their activities and sweep them under the carpet for decades and longer, evading prosecution. France, too, based on recent prosecutions.
Each country has its own particular twist on these appalling scandals that victimize the most vulnerable segments of our societies.
I was very impressed with the way Australia investigated institutional child abuse but don’t know if they have held the organizations accountable. They were focused on getting them to stop practices that put children in harm’s way not punishment.
The US doesn’t as a government doesn’t investigate this but the court system has made strides to hold these institutions accountable. Some states have made a lot of progress. Other states still need a longer statue limit because the period begins running when a child turns 18 and they often are not yet mature, emotionally and financially, to use the system against their attacker and the institution that is shielding them.
The next scandals that will be coming are the LGBTQ+ community and school systems who promote transgender and gay access. I’m already aware of two instances (a cousin’s child and a coworker’s child) where two seperate groups and schools failed to perform background checks on their members and sent pedophiles posing as gay or transgender people into two different school systems. One came with paid cell phones and proceeded to seduce a child in middle school who then also gave him access to her younger half-sister.
Adults never seem to learn. Pedophiles are actively looking for weak systems to exploit to gain access to children. They have to be actively stopped. That seems to be the major issue is that most adults are ambivalent and don’t want to be involved in the challenge and conflict and so let someone’s child be molested. Look at Penn State, football coaches heard illlicit and illegal rape occuring and did nothing.
Collectively, we need to adopt Julian the Apostate’s critique of Christianity. Let no seducer approach me without fear. Until we do, these scandals will continue.
One thing that Baroness Casey said which I’d like to quote here was “If good people don’t grasp difficult things, bad people will, and that’s why we have to do it as a society.”
Vulnerable children should always be at the very top of the pyramid of priorities in a decent society. I only hope we can learn from this.
I agree.