Even our police are blinded by liberal dogma, writes MP SIMON DANCZUK

Simon Danczuk MP asks why police, social services
and child protection agencies repeatedly fail to act
on clear evidence of abuse

Reading yesterday’s headlines about the Rotherham scandal, the question I kept asking myself was: how, in a supposedly civilised country like ours, can this possibly have happened again? And why does it keep on happening?

I’m MP for Rochdale, which lies about an hour’s drive away from Rotherham on the other side of the Pennines in Lancashire. And sadly we’re no strangers to the sexual abuse of children here either.

Cyril Smith, the town’s former MP, abused vulnerable young boys – both here and elsewhere – over the course of four decades, while more recently, in 2012, nine men were sent to prison for up to 12 years each for their part in what has become known as the ‘Rochdale grooming scandal’.

The parallels that both these cases have with what has been happening in Rotherham are hugely disturbing, and suggest that nothing has been done to improve standards of child protection in this country for more than 40 years.  (more...)

Even our police are blinded by liberal dogma, writes MP SIMON DANCZUK