The grooming scandal deserves a public inquiry

We are told that Rotherham and Telford held local inquiries into grooming gangs ("Minister rejects Andy Burnham’s call for new national grooming gangs inquiry", Friday 10 January).

The ongoing British Special Forces enquiry is being held in public, as were those investigations into contaminated blood and the Post Office. What was good for these major issues should also apply to the grooming gangs.

Establishment secrecy does nothing to encourage faith in the thoroughness of an inquiry.

Andrew McLuskey

Ashford, Middlesex

Dan Carden has demanded the PM start a new grooming inquiry ("Labour MP breaks ranks and demands Starmer launches grooming gang inquiry", Sunday 12 January). This does not have to be a lengthy process.

In July 2020, Labour MP Sarah Champion said: “There are almost 100 people in jail now for grooming in and around Rotherham. Nationally, there are between 500 and 1,000 people in jail for these offences. That’s quite a decent sample size, isn’t it? Why doesn’t the Home Office simply sit down with those offenders, interview them, and create an offenders’ profile from that?”

An even quicker process to ascertain if there is any truth that religion might play a part would be relatively straightforward. On arrival at a prison, prisoners could be asked to declare their faith or belief. The findings may or may not support the views of recent letters’ page correspondents.

Bill Bradbury

Bolton

I agree with the sentiments in your piece about e-scooters – and I’m glad that, here in Derby, something has been done about it ("It’s time for Labour to crack down on the scourge of e-scooters", Saturday 11 January).

However, little has been done about an even bigger scourge. Substitute “e-scooters” for “road vehicles”, and in place of six e-scooter-related deaths a year, substitute a fatality figure of four deaths per day.

Doug Flack

Derby

John Fair’s suggestion to use Nightingale hospitals to deal with the current NHS crisis sounds a good idea in theory (Letters: "Frontline staff already know how to fix our broken NHS", Friday 10 January).

My recollection is that, during the pandemic, they were hardly used because there were not enough staff to run them.

Martin Heaton

Gatley, Cheshire

I was astounded to read an article in the Independent that I would have expected to find in the trashy Telegraph ("Trump will finish the Ayatollahs in Iran, says Mike Pompeo", Thursday 9 January).

Why the former US secretary of state’s statements are considered newsworthy is puzzling. Even Donald Trump does not want him back in his administration.

Joseph Hannon

Manchester

Olivia Petter makes an excellent point about the malign effect of Instagram on weddings ("Ban social media at weddings – it ruins them", Saturday 11 January). But it started before social media.

In the 1980s, husbands were more concerned about capturing the birth of their child on camera (film, in those days) than the magical moment itself, or caring for their partner.

Carpe diem – memories live forever.

Prof W John Armitage

Wells, Somerset

Here we are, in the depths of winter – minus 18.9C in Altnaharra, Scotland.

We have the highest electricity prices in the world. Pensioners are frozen. We are perilously close to blackouts. Gas supplies are running out. Solar panels are covered in snow. Without a breath of wind, wind farms are barely able to supply the National Grid with 10 per cent.

What happened to Ed Miliband’s “nine times cheaper” electricity ? ("Nearly half of the UK’s energy is already from renewables - why are bills so high?", Saturday 11 January

George Herraghty

Elgin, Moray

There are very few politicians that I am impressed with, and even fewer that I like. One politician I liked and considered more than just competent was Nicola Sturgeon. I was saddened to read that her marriage is, in her words, over ("Nicola Sturgeon ends marriage to former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell", Monday 13 January).

Who is to gain custody of the campervan?

Robert Boston

Kingshill, Kent

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