Andy Burnham should be prosecuted for MiPO, not touted as the next Labour PM
Burnham's 'Assurance Review' was another part of the grooming gang coverup and he has questions to answer on why investigations were shut down and meeting minutes missing
More news in the MSM today about Andy Burnham positioning himself to try and challenge Starmer for PM, with his supporters like Clive Lewis MP going on the BBC recently openly declared he would give up his seat for Burnham.
But Burnham has serious questions to answer relating to his commissioning of a politically manipulated review into child sexual exploitation (CSE) that failed to deliver justice for grooming gang victims in Oldham, Rochdale, and Manchester.
The whistleblower and grooming gang scandal campaigner Raja Miah, argues that Burnham’s ‘Assurance Review’, that was only launched because of public pressure, was deliberately limited in scope and controlled by the very authorities under scrutiny. Drawing from his own experiences in this area and documents already in the public domain, Miah paints a picture of political interference, narrow terms of reference, and a refusal to confront the full scale of the abuse.
97 child gang rapists identified but investigations suddenly closed, why Andy?
The 2020 review into Operation Augusta in Manchester is a prime example of failures headed by Burnham. Police identified 97 men, predominantly from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds linked to taxi networks, as part of a grooming gang. Yet, the operation was abruptly closed down, allegedly due to political connections and concerns over community relations.
Shockingly, the minutes of the meeting where the decision was made to close down the enquiry on the 97 men were simply ‘lost’. This is utterly outrageous, especially since Burnham, as Police and Crime Commissioner, commissioned the report in the first place. The findings confirmed systemic failures but led to no prosecutions of those who halted the investigation.
Limiting scope and silencing victims
Burnham’s review extended to Oldham and Rochdale, led by independent experts Malcolm Newsam and Gary Ridgway. However, it as flawed from the start in three main areas;
The terms of reference limited the scope of enquiries including covering just 2011 to 2014, and excluding key areas for investigation like schools.
The Authorities being investigated controlled access to all the files and victims therefore it allowed politicians to manage the narrative and avoid deeper scrutiny of Labour linked figures.
The review took three years but failed to speak to a single survivor until only one victim was eventually interviewed after direct intervention by another influential whistleblower Maggie Oliver.
This clearly shows how manipulated this review was.
We also have Operation Hexagon which was mentioned in the terms. This was a joint police/council effort to target critics like Miah who spoke out against the gangs, rather than the focussing on the perpetrators themselves.
It’s interesting that after multiple attempts by Burnham and Labour to silence Miah since Hexagon even through the court system, that have all failed, and multiple offers of a public debate by Miah with Burnham to address the coverup, Andy has still not accepted.
A pattern of political protection for those involved
These issues are tied to broader concerns. Grooming networks operated across council boundaries, often linked to taxis and community figures with political ties. We all know from recent reports including the 2025 Casey report, the fear of being called racist and the by product of turning a blind eye for block votes, has led to these cover-ups.
While the reviews (published 2020–2024) exposed the abject failures and led to some arrests, Miah insists they were just exercises with no powers to compel evidence or hold decision makers accountable. Other critics like Maggie Oliver have called later reports a ‘smoke screen’ echoing demands for full accountability.
Burnham is trying to rewrite history
Burnham has defended the process, stating it faced up to failings and paved the way for a national inquiry, but this is untrue, he is trying to rewrite history to put himself in the clear. This ‘national enquiry’ is already falling apart at the seams because it’s trying to be influenced by Labour with half the victims on the panel resigning in protest. This ‘national enquiry’ was only started due to pressure from the public, the weight of evidence and Elon Musk’s exposure to the world in January 2025. Remember how the Starmer resisted profusely? Initially accused people who wanted a national enquiry as jumping on a right wing bandwagon? Spreading misinformation and how Musk should keep out of British politics?
That was until Starmer eventually gave way and tried to cover it up again with the Baroness Casey report, but she didn’t cover it up to her credit. After weeks of arguments internally about redacting some of the final report and changing the narrative, again exposed by Miah, it started to get leaked by those on the team in frustration, so it had to be published in full. It confirmed;
Institutional Failure: There was a deep-rooted and persistent failure across authorities (police, social services, local councils) to protect vulnerable children and teenage girls from serious sexual violence and exploitation.
Culture of Denial and Prejudice: ‘Blindness, ignorance, and prejudice’ led to repeated failures to properly investigate cases. There was a prevailing culture of denial and a reluctance to acknowledge the scale of the problem.
Victim Blaming: Victims, often from vulnerable backgrounds such as those in care, were frequently not seen as children who had been raped but as “wayward teenagers” or collaborators in their own abuse.
Failure to Address Ethnicity: Authorities shied away from examining the ethnicity of offenders due to fears of being labeled racist or increasing community tensions.
Inadequate Data: Ethnicity data was not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, making a national assessment impossible. However, local data from Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire showed a disproportionate number of men of Asian or Pakistani heritage among suspects, warranting closer examination.
They all know, they all keep quiet
Burnham, Starmer, Jess Phillips and more in the Labour party including London Mayor Sadiq Khan all know the truth but want it silencing. Labour have covered up the brutal gang rape of 100,000s of white children over decades, some even murdered, for the sake of politics, their block vote and have continually refused a genuine independent public enquiry because they are all neck deep in this horror.
These people should be prosecuted for Misconduct in Public Office and in prison. Burnham should never be PM after what he has allowed to be done to our daughters.
Watch the brilliant Andrew Gold interviews with Raja Miah and Maggie Oliver for the full story.