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Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Let’s recognize this latest political outrage over the gang scandal for what it is. The sudden hypocritical concern among right-wing politicians for a subset of child rape victims – only those abused by men of Pakistani origin – is beyond cynical.
Conservative leaders who failed to implement the recommendations of the last inquiry into child sexual abuse are suddenly demanding a new one. Tory leadership runner-up blames abuse “alien cultures” (were they foreign cultures when the perpetrators were in the Roman Catholic or Anglican Church?). The reformist British parliament is demanding an inquiry into “why young British white girls are being raped by men of Pakistani origin”. The intention is clear and driven by competition for ethno-nationalist inclinations of Elon Musk.
It is a dream scandal for those who take advantage of it. Either they secure their demand for a new national investigation, only to be milked further, or they can seek a cover-up. And it plays on the broader plan of breaking faith in the institutions of liberal society.
We can see the lie in many claims. Groom gangs preying on young maidens in towns such as Rotherham, Oxford, Oldham and Telford were not overlooked. In the past decade, there have been more inquiries. Far from being exposed by street thug Tommy Robinson, it was exposed by The Times — it doesn’t get more mainstream media than that. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Director of Public Prosecutions at the time, actually did praised for action to secure belief.
But once you get past the cynicism, this is what it’s all about. These crimes happened. The abuse was excruciating and ongoing; the details are terrible. Ordinary people have failed shockingly. A misguided sensitivity to the fact that a large number of gangs are made up of men of Pakistani origin and the fear of coming off as racist have shamefully prioritized the prosecution of abusers. Equally significant was the disdain of the police and authorities towards the victims, whom they dismissed as lower class.
The arguments surrounding the second, more specific investigation into the cases of grooming gangs are not clear. According to Starmer, “sensible people” cannot agree with that. The basic facts and common patterns of failure in abuse cases (tight community of abusers, power imbalance and neglect of victims) are now well known. There have been many local inquiries although it is not entirely accurate to say that this aspect is fully covered by Alexis Jay’s comprehensive investigation. There is justification in the opinion that it would be better to continue with the implementation of her recommendations.
And yet, to even state these views is to know that they will fail. The case against the investigation is a very hard sell. It is hard to believe that the government’s line will be maintained – although, given data and incidents of white offenders, there is no reason to limit such an investigation to only perpetrators from one ethnic group.
Because this flare-up also emphasizes something else. Politics can no longer be conducted as it was. Musk’s direct and manic interventions on behalf of the hard right across Western nations — a form of Magus imperialism — plus the power of TikTok and Meta’s retreat from fact-checking and moderation mark the latest stage in the dismantling of the old rules of discourse. Musk became particularly hostile towards Starmer after his arrests linked to social media posts that fueled the Southport riots.
The days of lofty contempt, or refuting arguments with a magisterial speech broadcast live on television news channels, are over. Discussion is no longer concentrated in a few manageable media. Undesirable decisions cannot be quietly passed on to the public. Social media and podcasts that shape the news agenda operate outside the rules. The fight is waged with pace, extreme language, misinformation and relentlessly exaggerated posts. The challenge for the major parties is that political success requires command of a medium that is not subject to nuance, statistics or technocratic details. This makes it even more difficult to govern.
This brutal terrain requires near-instant recognition of issues that reverberate more widely. One of the reasons why the demand for an inquiry is so strong is that it seems reasonable, putting ordinary citizens on the side of the agitators.
The mass of the country is not against immigrants. It stands for control, for integration and, above all, for justice. Citizens will not tolerate the concession of deep evil because of racial sensitivities. They expect common standards to be enforced – the epithet “two-tier Keir” is extremely dangerous for Starmer.
The last shortcoming was the speed of change at the national level. Queries are held, referrals are accepted and then stopped. Attention moves elsewhere. The Jay investigation lasted seven years and two more have passed since then. Data is still insufficient. A key proposal on the new criminal offense of failure to act on a report of abuse was not introduced. Conservatives languished and The work workedpost-Musk. Citizens are rightly appalled and now have a way to make themselves heard unfiltered.
This saga is a wild example of how Musk has taken online politics to its inevitable end point. The territory has irreversibly changed. Unless the mainstream leaders want to go further down the ill-advised path of censorship, they need a new book. The digital landscape will mercilessly punish those who remain in analog mode.
