Labour has refused to what-they-call “jump on the far-right bandwagon” by stopping short of a full national inquiry into rape gangs. Instead, Yvette Cooper has opted for a half-measure of five government-backed “local inquiries” into the scale of the abuse. They’ll be overseen by Baroness Louise Casey with a budget of £10 million and will aim to dig into the “cultural drivers” and ethnic makeup of the gangs—subjects Cooper once shied away from addressing. Police forces will also be told to revisit cold cases linked to rape gangs and child sexual exploitation. A reminder that rape gang victims could be spread across over 50 towns…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”