Home Secretary Yvette Cooper faces backlash for not launching a national inquiry into child sexual abuse, emphasizing the need for better data collection.
London: So, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is really standing her ground. She’s been getting a lot of heat for not kicking off a national inquiry into child sexual abuse. In a recent Commons session, she faced some tough questions from MPs.
Cooper pointed out that the way police gather data is pretty messy. She called it “haphazard” and said the info on the ethnicity of offenders just isn’t good enough. It’s clear she thinks there’s a lot of room for improvement.
She did announce some new measures, though. The government plans to make it mandatory to report abuse, and they’re setting up a panel of victims and survivors to help guide future efforts on child exploitation and abuse.
Cooper made it clear that these crimes have been overlooked for too long. She said, “Far too many children have been failed,” and stressed that the government is committed to making real changes. They want to strengthen laws and support victims better.
But not everyone is on board. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp is pushing hard for a national inquiry. He faced some serious backlash from Labour MPs when he said it’s not extreme to advocate for victims of mass rape. It’s a heated debate for sure.
Cooper responded by saying there hasn’t been enough action to tackle these awful crimes. She pointed out that Labour had called for mandatory reporting of abuse a decade ago, and now they’re playing catch-up.
Philp also pressed her on whether data from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse would be made public. He’s really pushing for a full statutory public inquiry that could compel witnesses and gather evidence under oath.
Cooper replied that some data had already been published, but she still thinks it’s not enough. She’s concerned about how data is collected and believes there’s a real issue with the current system. It sounds like there’s a lot more work to be done.
