Whenever a Hollywood actress complains about some lecherous man, there’s blanket coverage. Even our MPs feel the need to tut. So why, when there are allegations involving 1,000 underage girls abused by child-grooming gangs in this country, does no one turn a hair? For the most part, the paedophile scandal in Telford was ignored by the people who should care most.
The BBC, which has devoted hour upon hour to the #MeToo movement since the allegations over Harvey Weinstein broke last year, initially did not even think it worth covering the Telford abuse story on the section of its website devoted to news from Shropshire, let alone the national news. In the House of Commons, after the news broke, ‘urgent questions’ were being asked in the Commons chamber about the potential bullying of Westminster researchers. The fate of Telford girls, uncovered by the Sunday Mirror, was relegated to the junior chamber in Westminster Hall.
It’s true the news has always tended to focus on the interests and preoccupations of the powerful and well-connected — and Telford is a far cry from Westminster.
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