Rotherham: How Much Did Jack Straw and other Senior Labour Figures Really Know about "Kuffar Rape Culture"?

Firstly, let's for once call a spade a spade. The terrible crimes committed in Rotherham are almost ubiquitously described as being committed by 'Asian' men against white women. However, the men involved appear to have come from only a subset of 'Asians' - those of the Islamic faith. Since other Asians such as Hindus, Chinese, Thais etc seem completely absent from this role call of shame in Rotherham using the generic term "Asian" to describe the perpetrators is not only deeply insulting but also appallingly racist.

Instead, it would appear at least highly likely that the motives for the attacks were sectarian. The poor girls involved were not used and exploited because  they were white, but because they were kuffar (unbelievers). Of course most muslims would categorically reject that such hideous offences were justifiable, but it is undeniably the case that the Koran contains many verses advocating violence and suppression towards unbelievers who are considered inferior in Islam. Other verses are clearly misogynistic, with women repeatedly described as being unequal to men in matters of law and inheritance, for example. To cap it all, some verses in the Koran can be interpreted as allowing the rape of women taken as slaves (though this is disputed). It is therefore not hard to see how some interpretations of the Koran could lead to a culture where the hideous crimes that occurred could be morally justified in the minds of the perpetrators. This is not an "Asian" problem, it is an Islamic one.

The Labour Party has, of course, been largely and despicably silent on the issue. Condemnation has up to now been rightly concentrated on Rotherham City Council and South Yorkshire Police, but we should, perhaps, be casting the net more widely.

One of the first things New Labour did when it came into office in 1997 was to abolish the Primary Purpose Rule, which barred a marriage between a UK citizen and a foreign national whose  "primary purpose" was to gain entry into the UK. Labour's justification for the change at the time was the rule was cruel and unfair, but it was widely interpreted then and now as being done to deliver the muslim vote for Labour.

The primary purpose rule certainly did make life difficult for legitimate couples and no doubt resulted in some injustices. However, it also had the very welcome effect of keeping the lid on the evil practice of forced marriage, which was certainly known to be an existing and growing problem in muslim and Indian communities as far back as the 1970s and 80s. Since it's abolition under New Labour, there has been a very significant increase in the number of foreign-born spouses and relatives gaining entry into the UK, particularly from the Indian sub-continent. Unsurprisingly, the problem of forced marriage in those British communities derived from that part of the world has also grown. Jack Straw, the Labour Home Secretary at the time, must have known that this was likely, but went ahead with the change anyway.

The question is, then, is how much did senior New Labour figures know of the terrible sub-cultures developing towards young women in British muslim communities at the time? Some of the 1,400 offences in Rotherham date back to 1997, the year Labour assumed power, and most took place during New Labour's tenure in office. Moreover, a great many Labour MP's, including Straw himself, sat - and sit - in Parliament for constituencies with large muslim minorities. The problems unearthed in Rotherham are highly unlikely to be specific to that one community, so it beggars belief that cases of the kind weren't brought to the attention of at least some of them. In which case, were there suspicions that the rape of young women, whether because they were white or non-muslims, was becoming a widespread problem even before Labour assumed power? If so, why on earth was it thought sensible to instigate changes to the law which were likely to demographically increase the prevalence of those sub-cultures in Britain at the same time as promoting the now utterly discredited doctrine of multiculturalism, which crippled the ability of society to deal with such issues?

Jack Straw and Labour generally certainly have questions to answer. Until they put their heads above the parapet and end their despicable silence, the suspicion will linger that they were perfectly happy to trade the rape of working class girls for muslim votes.