Rotherham MP slates “pathetic” Government response to child sexual abuse inquiry.
Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, has launched blistering criticism of the Home Secretary’s' inadequate response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report in Parliament today.
Seven months after the report found damning evidence that there is a “national epidemic” of abuse on a “deeply disturbing” scale in England and Wales, the Government has today published its mandatory response.
Commenting, Sarah said:
“I am infuriated by the Home Secretary’s pathetic response to seven years of victims and survivors giving testimony and hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers money being spent on lawyers. All we get is the promise of further consultations and more monitoring.’
‘Accepting the need to act is not the same as actually taking urgent action.
‘This report laid out all the answers, yet there is still no implementation of these vital safeguarding measures.’
‘We still have no commitment to funding the essential services which have been decimated by cuts while this Government has been in power.’
‘I also question why the Home Secretary chose today to announce her response. The Government has had the full report since October 2022. It disgusts me that this Government is still chasing headlines rather than actually doing the job they're paid to do.’
‘This inquiry was a painful and challenging experience for the courageous victims and survivors who shared their stories and relived devastating trauma in the hopes of improving the broken system for others. I pay huge tribute to them all.’
‘Victims and survivors deserve far better than this response and this Government.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Sarah questioned the Home Secretary on her statement in the House of Commons today, her question is available to watch here:
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/f2ee8021-0f32-4aca-a16e-ef7964367964?in=16:54:14
Sarah Champion MP was a core participant of the IICSA report into child sexual exploitation by organised networks, available here:
The final IICSA report is available here:
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/inquiry/final-report.html