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AN MP who campaigned for a grooming gangs inquiry in Scotland has told how she was branded a ‘racist’ by the SNP for raising the plight of vulnerable girls.
Joani Reid, Labour MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, said the Nationalists went ‘straight for the smear’ and she faced ‘toxic’ abuse when she first started talking about girls being groomed by gangs of Asian men.
And she claimed that the party’s decision to vilify those who highlight the scandal is ultimately down to its leader, John Swinney. She said: ‘When I first started raising grooming gangs in Scotland, the SNP went straight for the smear, painting me as far-right, racist, unpatriotic and anti-Scottish.
‘Apparently grooming gangs are an English problem. Apparently Scotland is different, and to suggest otherwise was somehow a betrayal of the nation.’
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth told MSPs last week that a public inquiry would be held into the grooming gangs scandal after victims and professionals revealed harrowing stories of abuse.
The Mail on Sunday first revealed how Holly Alex was targeted by a grooming gang at an Edinburgh care home from the age of 13 by Asian men who plied her with drugs and alcohol and raped her.
We also told how groomers were smuggling mobile phones into residential homes to make contact with vulnerable children and that staff felt powerless to stop it.
Victims and politicians have been demanding a public inquiry for months but the Scottish Government repeatedly rejected the requests, citing a lack of evidence.
Labour MP Joani Reid was one of the first to raise concerns about grooming gangs operating in Scotland
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth announced a public inquiry into grooming gangs last week
Grooming gang survivor Holly Alex spoke about her harrowing experiences as an Edinburgh teenager
Ms Reid said she faced a ‘pile-on’ with ‘coordinated threats and abuse’ when she first suggested Scotland had an issue with grooming gangs.
She added: ‘Then came the full mob – aggressive, toxic and openly misogynistic. A culture that’s been allowed to thrive inside the SNP.’
She added: ‘John Swinney likes to present himself as a statesman above it all, but this happens on his watch, in his party, to protect his government’s record. He owns every bit of it.
‘I will not be intimidated. Not by the smears, not by the mob, not by any of it. I’m not raising this for sympathy or praise. I’m raising it because they need to be held to account and shamed.
‘Every time they reach for abuse rather than answers, they’re telling you exactly why vulnerable girls weren’t protected in the first place.’
The public inquiry will be chaired by Professor Alex Jay, who looked into the same issue of group-based sexual exploitation in Rotherham and is seen as one of the foremost experts on grooming gangs.
The probe has been welcomed by campaigners and survivors, as well as parliamentarians.
The SNP declined to comment.
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