Binky

👏 MINISTER LEFT SQUIRMING AS SUSANNA REID CALLS OUT THE HYPOCRISY: TOUGH ON BRAND & WALLIAMS, SILENT ON GROOMING GANGS Politicians are falling over themselves to look tough on the Russell Brand and David Walliams scandals, demanding action, talking about abuse of power, insisting things must change. Meanwhile Maggie Oliver is still screaming from the rooftops about the grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation recommendations that remain unimplemented after years of empty promises and lip service. She was on @GMB again yesterday pleading with Andy Burnham and the government to finally do something. Then Susanna Reid put the same question directly to the Victims Minister. The exchange was revealing. Reid said: “There can be no more abhorrent abuse of power than that committed in the grooming gangs scandal when children were abused. Maggie Oliver says that the government is still letting those children down by not implementing all of the recommendations of a multi-million-pound inquiry into grooming gangs. How do you defend the fact that those 20 or so recommendations are not implemented?” The minister totally ignored the question. Instead of addressing the unimplemented recommendations, she repeated the familiar lines, the grooming gangs scandal is one of the biggest stains on our history as a nation, that money has been invested to support victims, and that a national inquiry has been launched. We already know how scandalous it was. That was not what she was asked! Reid kept pressing, asking what the minister would say to Maggie Oliver, who is so critical of the government’s failures, and pointing out the glaring double standard like putting heavy pressure on the media and entertainment industry over Brand and Walliams, while this sits ignored on the government’s own desk. The minister’s response is a disgrace. She said this is on all of us. On society as a whole. Not just the media, not just people in positions of power and influence, on everyone. That is infuriating. No. It is on you and your government to implement what has already been recommended by those who have done the work. Society has been screaming about grooming gangs for decades. You have had the reports, the inquiries, the recommendations. You have not acted. Do not dare pin your deliberate inaction on “society”. Reid didn’t let it go. She came back to the recommendations and asked why they haven’t been implemented. Are they too complicated? Unenforceable? Too expensive? Why not simply demand that they are implemented? The answer: “It’s complicated.” This is shameless. Opportunistic hypocrites who are all over the celebrity scandals, demanding this and that must be done, while still ignoring one of the biggest abuse scandals in this country’s history. Absolute disgrace. Unforgivable.

😤 FURIOUS Maggie Oliver takes the gloves off and directly points the finger at Andy Burnham for blocking action on grooming gangs: “Do something! Stop making empty promises!” I’ve rarely seen Maggie Oliver so angry and so willing to call out politicians by name. Bear in mind she has a relationship with Andy Burnham going back years, that alone tells you just how furious she is right now, and she has every right to be. The public is right behind her. Asked by Wilfred Frost whether she is pointing the finger at Burnham for years of promises after local and national reviews, and whether his words are empty, Maggie let him know in no uncertain terms: “I am pointing the finger! This week he’s talking about the Russell Brand case and David Walliams and saying that the stories of these victims in those cases will bring change and I’m not in any way underplaying the magnitude of what’s happened to those women, what I’m saying is we’re talking about failures over decades.” “He could not be in a better position now, he is the Prime Minister. He has sent all his lawyers to argue why they should not bring in the recommendations of the 7-year inquiry that gave 7,500 survivors and victims hope that change would come.” “Theresa May said it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect children of the future. It matters! Do something! Stop making empty promises!” Maggie is a fighter. She’s been doing this for decades, endlessly fighting for real change, yet they’re still not listening. They pretend they are, they praise her, but when it comes down to it they refuse to do what’s actually needed and she’s had enough! She probably thought things would finally change under Burnham. Instead he’s literally fighting her in court to block the recommendations. The man is a fraud. No different to Starmer and the rest who’ve done nothing. Keep going, Maggie. Keep the spotlight on them and try to shame him into doing what must be done. 🫡