'My MP mother was called racist for raising grooming gang issue'

The son of a former Labour MP who was the first to raise concerns about Asian grooming gangs has described how his mother was smeared and attacked for being a racist, particularly by members of her own party.

John Cryer, a former MP who now sits in the House of Lords, highlighted the backlash endured by his mother Ann when she spoke up about the issue in her Keighley constituency in 2003.

Labour peer Lord Cryer called for prosecutions of anyone who knew about the child abuse by a group of older men from the Pakistani community, but chose to cover it up.

He was speaking after a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs was announced by the prime minister.

The government's decision came after Baroness Casey's report, published on Monday, found the ethnicity of perpetrators had been "shied away from", with data not recorded for two-thirds of offenders.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed officials had dodged the issue of ethnicity among the groups of sex offenders for fear of being called racist, even though available data showed suspects were disproportionately likely to be Asian men.

Ms Cryer was MP for Keighley when she was alerted to the problem in her constituency by a group of concerned mothers, who said their young daughters were being sexually exploited by a group of older Asian men and the police and social services were refusing to act.

After going public, she faced accusations that she was a racist and also received threatening notes and phone calls, leading police to install a panic alarm in her house.

She stood down as an MP in 2010.

In the years since, a series of high-profile grooming scandals have been exposed, including in Rotherham and Rochdale.

Responding to a ministerial statement on the Casey review, Lord Cryer spoke of the backlash his mother faced when she first raised the issue.

"I'm talking about councillors, councils and other institutions who went on the attack and lied and smeared about the rape gangs," he said.

"I think some of them were complicit. Some of them knew it was going on, and they decided to cover up."

In reply, Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint said: "I served in Parliament with Ann and I know she raised these matters and faced extreme difficulties locally as result, and took a very brave stand at that time."

Stressing the need to address the issue, he added: "My party wasn't in control of government when a lot of these issues happened, but I have still got a responsibility to look at making sure we deal with these in an effective way."

Earlier, he told peers other recommendations made by Baroness Casey would be implemented "in very short order".

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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