Phil

[Phil @pacaves]

ITV definitely win the World Cup programme intro competition against the BBC

[Phil @pacaves]

@CraigHope_DM @TheAdrianDurham @talkSPORT The defence

[Phil @pacaves]

@BBCMOTD Unless you’re from a country that’s been travel banned, then you’re not welcome.

[Phil @pacaves]

@SkySportsNews They’ve been poor this season. Only one who should be disappointed is MGW

[Phil @pacaves]

@SkySportsNews He just repeats what the first guy said in the beginning 😂

[Phil @pacaves]

@henrywinter It’s pathetic. If clubs didn’t want that, don’t put it on the floor outside the tunnel where it’s inevitably going to be walked on. Managers/players/fans need to grow up

[Phil @pacaves]

@XtraLeicester @CalvinChikenge Absolutely not

[Phil @pacaves]

@bilio_muydunuz Good everyone came to help once the gang cleared off

[Phil @pacaves]

@CrimeLdn Bringing in face recognition cameras to catch criminals ✔️ removing items of clothing the cover the face ❌ well done TfL

[Phil @pacaves]

@tobytarrant It’s Toby Jones isn’t it?

[Phil @pacaves]

@henrywinter They’re not real fans

[Phil @pacaves]

Any decent team tears this England team apart

[Roibeard Breathnach 🇮🇪 @rfwalsh86]

I dont care how technically good Cristiano Ronaldo is. As a sportsperson, team player, human being there's almost nothing to admire or idolise about him.

[Phil @pacaves]

That blokes never cutting his hair is he

[Phil @pacaves]

That’s a real skill to have the ball on the edge of your opponents box & concede within 3 passes

[Phil @pacaves]

Awful game to watch, stadium like a library. A lot of players getting away with it at the minute

[Phil @pacaves]

@lcfchelp when will memberships be available purchase? It’s not coming up on the website yet

[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

Shaun Davies, the Labour MP for Telford, stood up in Parliament today and blamed Rishi Sunak and Amber Rudd for “blocking an inquiry into grooming gangs in Telford”.

They didn’t.
But he did.

As Leader of Telford Council, Davies organised a letter to the Home Secretary with nine other powerful local men (dubbed the “Telford Ten”).

They argued that there was no need for a local inquiry into Pakistani-Muslim grooming gangs, insisting that there was no problem and resisting calls for an independent investigation to be established.

“We do not feel at this time a further inquiry is necessary.”

Shaun instead claimed that the Alexis Jay inquiry into child sexual abuse (which didn’t cover Telford at all nor did it go into detail about other CSE scandals such as Rotherham) would suffice.

He only backtracked due to significant public pressure.

He was the Council Leader.
He was the establishment.
He was the problem.

How dare he try to rewrite history and cover up his despicable failings.

[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

This is Shaun Davies, Labour MP for Telford.

Today, he stood up in Parliament today and blamed Rishi Sunak and Amber Rudd for “blocking an inquiry into grooming gangs in Telford”.

In reality? 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

As Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Shaun oversaw the fallout from the most abhorrent failure of young women and girls in our area.

For years, he and the council he led downplayed the severity and scale of CSE in Telford and attempted to block an independent inquiry. If anyone should be held responsible for the culture of ignorance, victim-blaming, and indifference within the Council – as highlighted in the IITCSE investigation – it is Davies.

Yet, he has barely offered an apology, let alone taken responsibility for his, his Cabinet’s, and his Council’s failure to protect vulnerable girls.

On the day that the IITCSE Report was published, Shaun was noticeably silent, giving no public statement and blatantly distancing himself from the findings.

He later stated that: “I was three years of age at the time” CSE was going on, as well as trying to emphasise that it was historic and imply that this was all ‘before his time’.

This isn’t true.

CSE was, and is still, going on in Telford.

Davies was in the Cabinet from 2011.
He served as Leader from 2016.
He was part of the establishment.
He was part of the problem.

He coordinated a letter which was co-signed by 9 other powerful local men (dubbed the ‘Telford Ten’) to Amber Rudd, then the Home Secretary, stating that it was “not necessary” for an independent inquiry into CSE in Telford.

He instead claimed that the Alexis Jay inquiry into child sexual abuse (which didn’t cover Telford at all nor did it go into detail about other CSE scandals such as Rotherham) would suffice.

He only later backtracked due to significant public pressure.

He supported members of his Cabinet who were directly responsible for the failings or made divisive comments on the issue. Indeed, many of the key players in the Telford CSE scandal are still serving in positions of authority in Telford and elsewhere to this day.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at the time, Paul Watling, reportedly publicly called the journalist responsible for breaking the Telford story ‘despicable and said she was ‘inventing the scale of the abuse in order to sell a survivor’s book’.

Another signatory of Council Leader’s letter to the Home Secretary, Andrew Mason, reportedly said the story was ‘made up on the back of a fag packet,’ while a different Labour councillor said that it was “sensationalised scaremongering”.

And Davies’ attempts to distance himself from the failings that he was part of – indeed, that he was integral to – simply don’t hold up.

It is my belief that he has only avoided scrutiny for this long because of the influential position he held in the Council. Even the implementation of the IITCSE Report – which was heavily critical of Council leadership and the Cabinet – was being overseen in-part by Davies (albeit as part of the complex implementation committee structures).

Like in other Rochdale, Rotherham and elsewhere, Davies and other local men were essentially granted the power to mark their own homework.

And now, he holds even greater power and influence as Telford’s MP. Despite the fact that concerns were raised before his election due to his involvement in the CSE scandal and continued refusal to acknowledge his Council’s failings.

Labour continues to promote the very people who ignored little girls being abused.

Davies and his Council turned a blind eye for far too long. In my opinion, no one that played a part in, or ignored, the cover-up of child grooming and exploitation is fit for office.

Shaun Davies wasn’t an innocent bystander. He was part of the problem.

He knew. He did everything in his power to cover it up and save face. And now he has the audacity to blame others for the failures he oversaw?

He is unfit for office, and unfit for public life.

[Phil @pacaves]

@talkSPORT Jaws all over the place 😂