Alexander Stafford, former MP for Rother Valley, has written to Mayor Oliver Coppard urging greater transparency and accountability over the handling of the Rotherham grooming gang scandal. In response to Mayor Coppard’s recent statement supporting a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation, Mr Stafford questions the Mayor’s silence — and that of the Labour Party — on the continued lack of justice and unanswered questions in Rotherham.
In his letter, Mr Stafford highlights the failure to hold key local figures accountable and the ongoing marginalisation of survivor voices. He calls on Mayor Coppard to match his stated commitment to a “victim-centred approach” with real action and openness at the local level.
“This is a moment to show survivors that political leadership is finally willing to confront hard truths — not paper over them,” said Mr Stafford.
Full text of the letter is below:
Dear Mr Coppard,
Re: Your Statement on the Grooming Gang Inquiry
I am writing in response to your recent public statement supporting the national endeavour to tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE). While I welcome your recognition that “transparency, accountability and a fearless victim-centred approach” are essential, I must question how those values square with your silence — and that of your party — in relation to the ongoing lack of accountability over the Rotherham grooming scandal.
You state that South Yorkshire has learned “the hard way.” But it is difficult to see what lessons have truly been learned when so many of those who failed to act — or who presided over institutional denial — remain in positions of influence, or have simply been allowed to exit public life without scrutiny or consequence.
It is regrettable that your language suggests that you believe that there are no outstanding questions from the Rotherham grooming gang scandal.
I would have hoped you would be using this opportunity to ask why no one in any position of authority or power has ever been brought to justice in Rotherham. Instead, most have been allowed at worst quiet retirement and to maintain their decades of silence, including current Labour members.
As detailed in my repeated letters to Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Party’s handling of this issue locally has been marked not by transparency but by quiet removals, selective accountability, and silence. Former Councillors like Sue Ellis and Alan Atkin, both of whom were present at the 2005 seminar on child sexual exploitation but failed to act, continued in senior positions for years up until 2024.
Others, like Cllr Dominic Beck, were reportedly deselected and removed from the Labour Party under pressure. Yet still others — including Emma Hoddinott, who was forced to resign at the same time from the Rotherham Cabinet for leadership failures exposed by the Casey and Jay Reports — appear to have been quietly rehabilitated. Ms Hoddinott now serves as Assistant General Secretary for Representation and Political Affairs at the Co-operative Party.
Why has one councillor (Beck) been forced out of the party entirely, while another (Hoddinott) elevated to a senior national political role? Did the Labour Party uncover something about Cllr Beck’s conduct that differs materially from Cllr Hoddinott’s? The public do not know — because there has been no “transparency”.
These are people you have repeatedly been photographed alongside campaigning over the years. What message do you think that sent to survivors?
Last year, it was widely reported there was a “purge” of Labour councillors in Rotherham, of those who had been associated with the grooming gang scandal in recent national media reports. But, the Labour Party never disclosed why these people were removed or provided survivors that information, when for a decade prior they said they had no questions to answer.
How does that fit it with your message of transparency and openness?
Most survivors in Rotherham don’t have a platform and, due to a myriad of reasons, many lack the ability to challenge your statements, and the many made over the years by local authorities and political leaders.
In Rotherham, those survivors who have waived their anonymity or speak publicly have frequently pointed to failings at the local level when it comes to engaging with them. So much for your “victim-centred” boast.
Some survivors have been deliberately ostracised and dismissed as “far-right,” simply for calling out institutional failure.
I suggest you read the social media posts of survivors like Elizabeth and Sammy Woodhouse to see that they certainly don’t agree with your boastful claims about how South Yorkshire has handled grooming gangs.
Sammy Woodhouse — whose voice has sparked national outrage — revealed recently that she was pressured by South Yorkshire Police to delete posts, effectively silencing victims. As our elected police representative, what do you have to say about how “transparent” this is?
If you truly believe in a “fearless victim-centred approach,” why has there been no action to ensure survivors can speak freely and publicly about what happened? Why hasn’t the Labour Party proactively supported that transparency, rather than allowing survivor voices to be suppressed?
This inconsistency highlights the central issue: the continued failure to fully and for the Labour Party to publicly account for what happened, who knew what, and why decisive action wasn’t taken when it could have saved lives
If survivors are to be at the heart of your approach, as you rightly say, then they deserve clear answers — and for those who failed them to be held properly to account.
If your support for the national inquiry is to be taken seriously, then surely it must begin with full transparency here in Rotherham. Not boastful statements suggesting that the issue has been fully investigated and dealt with here.
For Labour leaders, that means finally having the open and honest conversations about the role of current and former Labour Party members in the Rotherham grooming gang scandal.
Survivors and residents deserve to know the full truth. Until then, calls for a national reckoning will ring hollow if our South Yorkshire leadership continues to obscure its own record.
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Stafford
Former Member of Parliament for Rother Valley (2019-24)
