Baroness Hazarika (Lab)

My Lords, on the comments that were just made, I begin by saying that as a British Muslim I was absolutely disgusted by the stories that have emerged about these grooming gangs. On behalf of my community, I would like to apologise for these sickening, despicable, wicked acts. Please believe me that many of us in the Muslim community are as absolutely appalled as the noble Lord or anyone else. This is not who we are. Many of these men, by the way, were abusing Muslim women as well as white women. Tonight, a film called “Groomed: A National Scandal” will be broadcast on Channel 4, in which victims of these sickening crimes by Pakistani gangs will tell their stories, and I hope that we will all watch it. The filmmaker Anna Hall has covered this story for more than 20 years; she is a leading expert. She argues that local inquiries are important but that a new public inquiry is not needed now as it could cause delays and that the seven-year Alexis Jay inquiry produced a good report. When will this Government crack on and implement the Jay recommendations, in particular a national child protection agency? If the Tories care so much about this issue, why did the previous Government fail to take any action on the Jay report for more than two years?