Yvette Cooper made an 'unequivocal' apology to grooming gang victims today as a 'damning' report accused institutions of 'dodging' questions about the ethnicity of offenders.
In a moment of shame for UK authorities, the Home Secretary finally triggered a national inquiry into the sexual abuse of underage girls, admitting those who suffered 'despicable crimes' had been 'let down'.
She told the House of Commons that a 'no holds barred' review by Baroness Casey had identified 'deep-rooted failure to treat children as children', 'denial' of facts and 'fragmentation'.
The Whitehall troubleshooter found perpetrators of Asian heritage were 'overrepresented' in cases, condemning institutions for 'avoiding the topic altogether for fear of appearing racist'.
In her excoriating assessment, Lady Casey said there was a 'continued failure to gather proper robust national data' on the ethnicity of criminals, with information recorded in just a third of cases.
