South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright, has come under increasing pressure to resign after a damning report accused the Labour politician of presiding over a cover-up of child sexual abuse when he was a senior Councillor in Rotherham. Alexis Jay’s report into child abuse showed the council took no action to stop a Pakistani paedophile gang abusing 1,400 victims over 16 years.
Wright was a Councillor in Rotherham for 12 years before being elected South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012. He had been Cabinet Member for Children’s and Young People’s Services from 2005 to 2012, right in the middle of the scandal which ran from 1997 to 2013.
During his time as Councillor he was also the Deputy Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Authority, which was abolished to make way for the new commissioner post. This meant he was previously the second most senior politician in-charge of policing in the Rotherham area.
Local MEP and UKIP candidate for Rotherham Jane Collins has called for Mr Wright to resign, claiming that he was “instrumental” in the cover-up of the abuse. Collins told Breitbart London: “The people of Yorkshire are rightly appalled to hear their Police and Crime Commissioner was so instrumental in covering up abuse of children in Rotherham. He should resign immediately because people like him have no place holding public office in a civilised society.”
In 2009 the government slapped an improvement notice on the Children’s and Young People’s Services department but Wright still kept his job. According to the report the department only made changes when the government stepped in.
At a press conference covered by Breitbart London today, the £200,000 a year Chief Executive of the Council confirmed that no officers had been fired for what had happened. He also refused to comment on whether Mr Wright was an appropriate person to run the local police.
Wright is paid £100,000 a year after being elected in a poll with a 15 percent turnout. His replacement as Labour candidate the his council ward of Rawmarsh was his wife Lisa, who lost after being selected on an all-women short-list.
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