Aidan Cleverly

Today marks the end of the survivor participation for our rape gang inquiry hearings. I simply have no words that describe the bravery and courage of these women who have come forward. No words. What they have been through is indescribable. It has been a life-changing experience for me. I never thought such evil was possible. Never. Not here, in Britain. In our towns, in our communities. It is pure evil. These men are so utterly depraved. If it were up to me, thousands of them would receive the death penalty. To do what they did, on such an industrial scale, to innocent young girls - many of whom were already in such an incredibly vulnerable place? There is no redemption possible. The world is a better place without them in it. I started this inquiry because so many others failed. Speaking honestly, I did not understand how deep this evil is rooted in our society. Police, politicians, council officials, the NHS, social workers, children’s homes - it is everywhere. IS everywhere. Not was. IS. Meeting these women, and men, listening to how severely they were failed by those tasked to protect them? My views have changed forever. I knew it was bad. I never knew how bad it was. Every single one who has come forward is a hero in my view. The courage and grace in how they have conducted themselves is unlike anything I have seen in my life. All because they don’t want others to suffer the same fate. That is an extraordinary sacrifice. They could have just moved on with their lives. Tried to forget. But no, they chose to do this. I am in awe of all of them. Our hearings will finish tomorrow, following the contribution of three more expert witnesses. Then the next stage begins. We will produce a report, and then we will seek to put people in prison. There are FAR more testimonies and evidence to release - this will keep coming and coming and coming. Even with a media blackout, we have reached tens of millions. We have made real progress. And following such immense demand, we will reopen the portal so that more women can tell their stories. This is just the beginning. Politicians from all parties have failed these girls, again and again and again. I do not intend to join that list. To everyone who donated, thank you. To our team, thank you. And especially to the survivors, thank you. I believe that together we can start to make Britain understand what is happening, and then finally do something about it.