MPs with form
Mon 12:07 pm +00:00, 6 Jan 2025Sent by Robin TIlbrook a tweet by Samantha Smith
This is Shaun Davies, Labour MP for Telford. As Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Shaun oversaw the fallout from the most abhorrent failure of young women and girls in our area. For years, he and the council he led downplayed the severity and scale of CSE in Telford and attempted to block an independent inquiry. If anyone should be held responsible for the culture of ignorance, victim-blaming, and indifference within the Council – as highlighted in the IITCSE investigation – it is Davies. Yet, he has barely offered an apology, let alone taken responsibility for his, his Cabinet’s, and his Council’s failure to protect vulnerable girls. On the day that the IITCSE Report was published, Shaun was noticeably silent, giving no public statement and blatantly distancing himself from the findings. He later stated that: “I was three years of age at the time” CSE was going on, as well as trying to emphasise that it was historic and imply that this was all ‘before his time’. This isn’t true. CSE was, and is still, going on in Telford. Davies was in the Cabinet from 2011. He served as Leader from 2016.
He was part of the establishment. He was part of the problem.
He coordinated a letter which was co-signed by 9 other powerful local men (dubbed the ‘Telford Ten’) to the Home Secretary, stating that it was “not necessary” for an independent inquiry into CSE in Telford. He instead claimed that the Alexis Jay inquiry into child sexual abuse (which didn’t cover Telford at all nor did it go into detail about other CSE scandals such as Rotherham) would suffice. He only later backtracked due to significant public pressure. He supported members of his Cabinet who were directly responsible for the failings or made divisive comments on the issue. Indeed, many of the key players in the Telford CSE scandal are still serving in positions of authority in Telford and elsewhere to this day. The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at the time, Paul Watling, reportedly publicly called the journalist responsible for breaking the Telford story ‘despicable and said she was ‘inventing the scale of the abuse in order to sell a survivor’s book’. Another signatory of Council Leader’s letter to the Home Secretary, Andrew Mason, reportedly said the story was ‘made up on the back of a fag packet,’ while a different Labour councillor said that it was “sensationalised scaremongering”. And Davies’ attempts to distance himself from the failings that he was part of – indeed, that he was integral to – simply don’t hold up. It is my belief that he has only avoided scrutiny for this long because of the influential position he held in the Council. Even the implementation of the IITCSE Report – which was heavily critical of Council leadership and the Cabinet – was being overseen in-part by Davies (albeit as part of the complex implementation committee structures).
Like in other Rochdale, Rotherham and elsewhere, Davies and other local leaders were essentially granted the power to mark their own homework. And now, he holds even greater power and influence as Telford’s MP. This being despite the fact that concerns were raised before his election regarding his involvement in the CSE scandal and continued refusal to acknowledge his Council’s failings. Labour continues to promote the very people who did nothing while children were being abused. Davies and his Council turned a blind eye for far too long. In my opinion, no one that played a part in, or ignored, the cover-up of child grooming and exploitation is fit for office. In the case of Rotherham, Keir Starmer barred local officials from running for Parliament once their links to the CSE scandal were uncovered. The only way to secure justice for victims and survivors, deliver change, and protect other girls is to hold those responsible to account. How can we do that when a complicit party is the judge, jury, and executioner? How can we do that when men like Shaun Davies still hold positions of power?
