Cringing Keir Starmer had to be bullied into rape gangs inquiry - it'll get worse for PM

If anything has become clear from the appalling grooming gang scandal and the subsequent news that foreign criminals are responsible for more than a quarter of sexual assaults on women it is, to quote an old saying, that knowledge is power. And that means the calls for more data to be made available upon conviction of these vile lowlifes is absolutely right. Be in no doubt, despite his protestations to the contrary Sir Keir Starmer has been bullied into his screeching U-turn over this national inquiry.

His fatuous claim that it is because he had read the report from Baroness Casey in greater detail ring hollow and he must now await with mounting horror the outcome of the inquiry in to how the local authorities, mostly Labour-run, allowed these grotesque miscarriages of justice to fester for so many years. Notwithstanding the gravity of other inquiries such as the Horizon Post Office scandal and the Grenfell fire, this is one of the darkest chapters in the history of this nation for many decades.

The fact that men of Pakistani heritage - whose victims were as young as 11 - were allowed to groom, kidnap, torture, trade, rape and even in some cases murder girls without any fear of intervention as authorities such as the police, NHS, local councils and charities were riven with fear of taking action or denouncing these crimes, is an indelible stain on the nation.

Therefore, now is the time for bravery. While acknowledging that of course not every sex offender is going to be of Pakistani heritage, the fact that in too many towns and cities on too many occasions too many were, has to be accepted and spelt out.

As do the figures provided last week which were drawn from the Police National Computer by the Ministry of Justice and which showed that 26% of sexual assault convictions on women last year were for people born outside the UK. All of which means the demands for the publication of the nationality, asylum status and visa routes of every offender is correct.

Watch as the Government does everything it can think of to try and stave off this common sense move for the simple reason that they know it will spotlight their appalling record at dealing with people who arrive in this country illegally.

Can you imagine more a damaging headline than a story about an illegal asylum seeker being convicted of multiple child rape?

In related news, last week we learnt around 17,000 people have made the illegal crossing of the English Channel so far this year, a figure that is up a shocking 43% on the same period last year.

The promises of a shiny new "Border Command," to "smash the gangs" and to ramp up intelligence are exposed for all their empty rhetoric. Even 10 Downing Street has now been forced to confront this and admit the situation is "deteriorating" and this crisis will only get worse as so little is known about the background of the male migrants arriving who make up 75% of arrivals.

This, despite the risible claim by Labour's Darren Jones that they are mostly women and children. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was it too much to expect him to get a grip on some numbers?

Perhaps judging by his colleague, Treasury Secretary Emma Reynolds, who didn't know where a Thames crossing started, ended or even what it cost when questioned on my LBC radio show last week, in truth, it probably was!

It is a sad truth we currently have enough crime in this country. So why aren't we doing everything possible to stop importing more?