Rotherham abuse scandal: Labour joins calls

for crime commissioner to resign

Labour chief whip telephones Shaun Wright advising him to quit as 15 victims announce
plans to sue over abuse
Shaun Wright received a number of reports about widespread abuse but failed to act swiftly enough, according to the report.
Photograph South !or"shire police#P$
Helen Pidd, Ami Sedghi and Josh Halliday
Wednesday %& $ugust %'1(
Shaun Wright, the police and crime commissioner for South !or"shire who was
accused of turning a blind eye to the se)ual e)ploitation ofchildren in *otherham, is
consulting his family over his future afterLabour called for his resignation.
*osie Winterton, the Labour chief whip, telephoned Wright on Wednesday morning to
as" him to resign as he was a Labour cabinet member for children and young people+s
services at *otherham council from %''5 to %'1'.
,t is understood that Winterton made clear that cabinet members, whether at a local or
national level, should be accountable for failings that ta"e place in their areas of
responsibility. Wright, who had insisted he would remain in post, has returned home to
consult his family on his future.
$ Labour spo"esman said Wright should step down in light of the -devastating- report.
-.he report into child abuse in *otherham was devastating in its findings. /ulnerable
children were repeatedly abused and then let down. ,n the light of this report, it is
appropriate that South !or"shire police and crime commissioner, Shaun Wright, should
step down,- said the party spo"esman.
While in office Wright received a number of reports about widespread abuse but failed
to act swiftly enough, according to Professor $le)is 0ay+sshoc"ing report on the se)ual
e)ploitation of 1,('' children over 11 years in the South !or"shire town.
.he call came as 15 victims announced plans to sue *otherham council and South
!or"shire police in a class action. .heir solicitor claimed that in each case both police
and council -missed clear opportunities- to prevent the se)ual e)ploitation of do2ens of
girls in *otherham by gangs of men between 1331 and %'1%.
4avid 5reenwood of Switals"is Solicitors said -,n each of the 15 cases , am handling,
there have been failings by individual social wor"ers, but more importantly, we have
been able to identify that *otherham council and South !or"shire police have failed to
act on information which could have led to the arrest of perpetrators.-
.he message to Wright from Labour high command came after 6ournalists as"ed 7d
8iliband+s aides whether the party leader thought Wright+s position was untenable.
.he position was immediately supported by the shadow chancellor, 7d 9alls, and
4avid 9lun"ett, the former Labour home secretary, who has represented the Sheffield
9rightside constituency in South !or"shire since 13:&.
Within half an hour, Sarah ;hampion, the Labour 8P for *otherham, also said Wright
had to go. She refused to respond to the 5uardian on .uesday when as"ed whether
his position was untenable, but suggested on .witter that she had changed her mind
after reading 0ay+s full report.
$t 1pm on Wednesday ;hampion tweeted -<ow fully read report, Sean =sic> Wright
needs to step down as P;;. ?e+s championed child abuse prosecutions since, but this
happened on his watch.-
,n response to another .witter user who suggested Labour in *otherham needed a
-clear@out-, she added that there -needs to be full disciplinary A criminal inquiries-.
7ducation minister <ic" 5ibb said those responsible for policy decisions which
contributed to the scandal should be held to account.
?e told ,./ <ews -,t is quite appalling that the more vulnerable the children, the more
horrific their stories, the less they are believed by the statutory authorities.
-$nd those that too" those policy decisions, , thin", should be held to account.-
0ust a few hours earlier Wright had insisted that he would not resign, saying he was
not directly responsible and the council should ta"e collective responsibility.
Wright told the 99; -.he scale of the problem has come as a surprise to me.- ?e
said he was not aware of the -industrial scale- of the abuse.
,n an interview with S"y <ews he apologised for what he called a systematic failure.
Wright said 0ay should have gone further and -named names- in terms of council
officials, politicians and police officers who had failed to protect youngsters from
abuse.
Police and crime commissioners can only be removed by members of a police and
crime panel.
Bn Wednesday some of the 1C panel members in South !or"shire began to spea" out
against Wright.
*alph Si)smith, a Labour councillor on 9arnsley council, said -, thin" his position will
be untenable. ?e+s =Shaun Wright> unreservedly apologised, is that enoughD
Personally , don+t thin" it is.-
?e said that Wright+s history would taint his dealings with the police officers he had
been elected to monitor, arguing -, thin" if you+ve got to wor" with senior police
officers E their perception of him as police and crime commissioner would be tainted
by the fact that he was lead member of *otherham council for children and young
people+s services for five years when this was going on.-
Si)mith added -,f he+s not stood down , thin" we are going to have to mention and as"
is it untenable as it stands ... we hold him to account on issues that happen within our
areas.-
Bne of Si)smith+s colleagues on the police and crime panel in South !or"shire said he
was as"ing for a legal opinion on what powers the panel had to remove Wright if he
refused to step down.
.erry Sharman, a Labour councillor in *otherham, said -What , will be as"ing for, and
,+m waiting for an answer from legal to report bac", is what position are we in to do
something anywayD ,t+s up to Shaun, he+s got to ma"e his mind up.-
Bn .uesday, another panel member ;aven /ines, a F"ip councillor in *otherham,
said -, thin" he should resign immediately and at the ne)t meeting of the panel , will
be standing up to say e)actly that G , should hope the rest of the panel will 6oin me.
!ou can+t defend the indefensible.-
Hashaf Walayat, an independent member of the panel, said -.hose people that were
involved in the decision@ma"ing process and had "ey roles need to be held
accountable so the public can have confidence.-
*oger 4avison, a Lib 4em member of the panel, said -, have no animosity towards
him, but in this particular case it ma"es it difficult for him to continue.-
0ay+s report G commissioned by the council G said failures of the political and police
leadership in *otherham between 133& and %''3 were blatant as the seriousness of
the problem was underplayed by senior council managers and was not seen as a
priority by South !or"shire police.
*otherham council+s leader, *oger Stone, resigned on .uesday following its
publication.
.he report, which loo"ed at a period between 133& and %'1C, detailed -utterly
appalling- e)amples of -children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with
being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and
threatened they would be ne)t if they told anyone-.
0ay said that children as young as 11 were raped by multiple perpetrators, traffic"ed to
other towns and cities in northern 7ngland, abducted, beaten and intimidated.
.he spotlight first fell on *otherham in %'1', when five men were given lengthy 6ail
terms after they were found guilty of grooming teenage girls for se).
Posted by Thavam