If our children were Muslim

On Wednesday 12th July 2023, censored by the Council and not covered by the local media, a deeply troubling incident unfolded at the Oldham Council meeting. Cllr LEWIS QUIGG had valiantly presented an amendment demanding a Public Inquiry into the appalling gang rape of our town's children. Predictably, the Labour Party-run Council voted down the amendment. Once again, JIM McMAHON MP was referenced. At the time leader of Oldham Council, McMAHON, now KEIR STARMER's Shadow Minister for Sewage, is neck deep in the allegations of the cover up of the town's rape gangs.

Survivors and their families, despite facing prison-like security, managed to attend the first part of the meeting. The emotional testimony of a mother whose child took their life after being groomed and raped deserved listening to. Instead it received dismissal as Councillors walked out whilst she shared her screams of anguish. They then set themselves up in a private room where her words would not reach them.

"If our children were Muslim, would you have a proper inquiry? Yes you would. But now it's Muslim men that have done this to our children, you lot walk away."

From behind closed doors, after excluding members of the public, Council leader AROOJ SHAH and her Labour team voted down the inquiry calls for a second time, this time not even allowing Cllr HOBIN to speak. Throughout the meeting, SHAH and her Labour associates repeatedly attempted to play themselves as the victims and claimed that those calling for justice were instead opportunists and racists.

I reject any attempts to label pleas for justice as racism. I stand with all victims of Oldham's rape gangs. These people are not the racists. They are victims of racially motivated crimes. What was done to them is abhorrent. And the cover up, to protect the failings of powerful politicians and criminal police officers, is a national scandal.

As your future MP, the second of my vows is to fight tirelessly to secure a Public Inquiry. The Council Chamber will not grant it. But as your MP, in Parliament, I will demand it, and together, we will secure it. Justice is coming.

Raja Miah MBE
Parliamentary Candidate
Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton