The dark shadow of betrayal looms over our country. As our borders collapse, our defences shrivel, our living standards fall and our debts soar, there is a growing sense that our rulers no longer care about our national interests or the rights of British people. That outlook is seen at its worst in the grooming gang scandal, in which vulnerable working-class girls were systematically abused and exploited on an industrial scale by groups largely made up of Pakistani men in towns across northern England and the Midlands.

Shamefully, the institutions, like the police and local social services departments, that should have been protecting the girls from these predatory gang members were far more concerned about maintaining the illusion of urban Britain’s multi-cultural success. So they engaged in a massive cover-up to hide the truth. In the climate of intimidation they created, staff were afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs or becoming the target of accusations of racism.

But thanks to the brave work of figures like journalist Andrew Norfolk and former police detective Maggie Oliver, the grim reality could not remain permanently hidden. In the Yorkshire steel town of Rotherham alone, no fewer than 1,400 girls were estimated to have been abused, some of them as young as 11.

Public outrage at what was happening on the streets of Britain pressured successive governments to establish a series of local and national investigations into the grooming gang scandal, but none of these were satisfactory because they all shied away from the crucial question of the abusers’ cultural, religious and ethnic identities.

That is exactly what the politicians want. Wedded to their delusional mantra that “diversity is our strength”, they still hope to conceal the reality about organised abuse.

Typical is the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who refuses to admit that such gangs operate in the capital despite the damning evidence to the contrary produced by this paper. Our leaders are guilty of a dual betrayal of the British people.

First, without any democratic mandate, they embarked on the transformation of our urban landscape by the mass arrival of migrants from Asia and Africa, many of whom did not share our traditional liberal values, especially on women’s rights.

Second, having presided over the wilful import of misogyny through this revolutionary change, they tried to deny the existence of the problem they had created, thereby preventing survivors from receiving the justice they deserve.

It is a stance that makes a mockery of their rhetoric about compassion and equality. In a warped inversion of morality, the political establishment effectively sides with the groomers against their victims.

This mentality helps to explain why the Labour Government has made such a mess of the current grooming inquiry, which Sir Keir Starmer announced in June.

He only did so with reluctance after powerful demands from campaigners and survivors’ groups, but his equivocation is mirrored in the inquiry’s descent into crisis.

It has yet to hold a meeting and has neither terms of reference nor a chair, all the serious contenders having withdrawn their candidacies because of the shambles. It has also lost the confidence of several of the survivors who were appointed to the panel that oversees the operation of the inquiry.

Four of these survivors have resigned, complaining that the politicians want to dilute the impact of the race issue by widening the scope of the inquiry beyond the grooming gangs to take in other forms of child abuse.

Those suspicions have been reinforced by the appointment of Sabah Kaiser as one of the inquiry’s advisers. In the past, she has challenged claims that Pakistani men are disproportionately involved in grooming gangs, arguing that such assertions are “destructive, distracting and irresponsible”.

Concerns have also been raised about Labour’s Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, who has been accused of misleading survivors, weakening the powers of the inquiry and adopting a lenient approach towards the gangs.

Some critics say she is fearful of losing her Birmingham Yardley constituency where 43 per cent of voters are Muslim and her majority is just 579, and that’s easy to see.

But grubby political considerations should not be allowed to influence justice. The abuse survivors and the nation as a whole, deserves better.