‘Victims and survivors have been failed for far too long’, says Tory MP

The Conservative MP Robbie Moore said his district in Bradford has been “haunted” by “the grooming of children for decades” and accused local leaders of “refusing” to launch an inquiry.

Cathy Newman: Jess Phillips says that Elon Musk has contributed to her fearing for her life. Are you ashamed of stoking this kind of division and toxic attitude?

Robbie Moore: It’s certainly something that I have not been doing. But what I would absolutely condemn is any of those sorts of robust language that the likes of Elon Musk has been using against any minister.

Cathy Newman: You also condemn your friend Robert Jenrick’s language where he talks about capping immigration from ‘people coming from alien cultures with medieval attitudes towards women’? Do you endorse that kind of language?

Robbie Moore: Let’s be clear. This is rape gang culture that is being continuing in constituencies like mine, in Keighley and across the wider Bradford district. I’ve been calling this issue out exactly for what it is since I got elected in 2019, in areas like mine, which is a minority of Pakistani men that has been targeting white young children for far too long. And when you refer to Robert Jenrick’s comments, I think there are additional issues and additional challenges that need to be explored because this is not just about illegal immigrants coming across here. This is about potentially second and third British-Pakistani generations that have been targeting white young children, which is exactly why we need a national inquiry to get to the crux of this issue, to explore it in more detail.

Cathy Newman: I’ll come back to the inquiry, but how do you think talk of alien cultures sounds to people of Pakistani heritage who are here and are completely uninvolved in any of this kind of grooming gang stuff?

Robbie Moore: Exactly why I’ve been raising this issue and calling this issue out for what it is since I got elected in 2019, it’s exactly why…

Cathy Newman: Robert Jenrick hasn’t has he?

Robbie Moore: It’s exactly why we need an inquiry in the Bradford district and when you have got concerns being raised around possibly up to 50 towns, with the complexities that we have across the Bradford district like we’ve had in Rotherham, like we’ve had in Telford, Oldham, Rochdale. When you have up to potentially 50, if not more cities, towns, settlements have been impacted, we need a national inquiry that specifically focuses on gang rapes and child sexual exploitation to get to the crux of this issue.

Cathy Newman: You might have been consistent about this, but Robert Jenrick has just suddenly taken an interest in this. He’s barely raised it in parliament. He didn’t do anything about it in the Home Office. It’s dog whistle politics, isn’t it, that he can see falling polling ratings and he thinks that he’ll grab some Reform voters back potentially?

Robbie Moore: I’m very pleased when any colleague, no matter what political colour, is coming up and standing about and talking about very robustly on this issue, because it has not been robustly talked about for a significant period of time. Ann Cryer, who was the previous MP, who was a Labour MP for Keighley, who I am the predecessor to, consistently raised this issue when she was the MP, but yet the previous Labour government did nothing about it. The British state, whether that be the national government or local government or indeed any organisation in charge of safeguarding responsibilities, have failed those victims, those survivors and those families for far too long. And that’s why we need to do something about it now.

Cathy Newman: You talk of alien cultures though, is Sajid Javid from an alien culture?

Robbie Moore: Well, look…

Cathy Newman: Sadiq Khan, Rishi Sunak?

Robbie Moore: I have been very consistent in calling out and putting at the heart of my calls the victims and those survivors.

Cathy Newman: I asked you a question. Robert Jenrick has talked about an alien culture. Are those people I mentioned, are they from an alien culture?

Robbie Moore: Well, I do believe that..

Cathy Newman: They’re not, are they?

Robbie Moore: If it was me, I would have used different language.

Cathy Newman: This was a leadership contender until a few weeks ago.

Robbie Moore: The point that I am saying here is when you are looking at the complexities of gang rapes that have taken place in constituencies like mine in Keighley, where I fear the issue will dwarf the likes across the Bradford district of the likes of Rotherham, you need to be looking at the complexities where it has been multiple generations of British-Pakistani communities targeting white young children.