Independent MP Rupert Lowe has written to Lucy Powell following her outburst after she was asked if she'd watched Channel 4s documentary about rape gangs.
On BBC Any Questions Tim Montgomerie said "I don’t know if you saw the documentary on Channel 4 about rape gangs". Lucy Powell interrupted with "Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Yeah, OK, let’s get that dog whistle out".
Rupert Lowe's letter in full:
Rupert Lowe MP
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SW1A 0AA
Dear Leader of the House,
I am writing to express my deep concern at your recent remarks during a media appearance, in which you responded to a question about the rape gang scandal with the phrases: "You want to blow that little trumpet" and "Let's get that dog whistle out".
Your comments are deeply, deeply offensive. They diminish and mock the genuine and justified outrage felt by millions of British people. Your words trivialise one of the most shameful, festering scandals in British history: the industrial rape and sexual torture of young, working-class white girls by predominantly Pakistani men in towns and cities across the country.
This was not a conspiracy theory. It was a documented, systemic failure of the state to protect vulnerable white girls. It continues today.
To reduce this issue to a "dog whistle" is abhorrent and insulting. It is not a trumpet to be blown. It is a national disgrace that demands accountability, not such pathetic deflection.
I urge you to do the right thing and issue an urgent public apology for your remarks. Dismissing this tragedy with such flippant language is reprehensible.
Kind regards,
Rupert Lowe MP
https://twitter.com/RupertLowe10/status/1918719513454858654
