The truth MUST be addressed: Allegations of child abuse, cover-ups, car bombings, corruption and suppression in Oldham

by Matt Ramsbottom, Publisher, Oldham Evening Chronicle

Sometimes the truth needs to be pursued, even when doing so comes at personal and professional cost.

Over the past year, Oldham has repeatedly appeared in connection with allegations of child abuse cover ups, corruption, criminality, the suppression of scrutiny and extreme incidents, including car bombings. These matters are already in the public domain. What concerns us is the emerging pattern, one that appears to demonstrate continued avoidance of accountability.

Oldham cannot move forward while serious allegations of child abuse cover ups, criminality and associated activity remain unresolved. When those allegations are accompanied by apparent attempts to suppress scrutiny and sidestep the truth, we are compelled once again to speak out.

What is increasingly troubling is not only the nature of the allegations themselves, but how those raising concerns and placing facts into the public domain have been treated by officers and politicians alike.

We write this as a local media publisher with more than three decades of experience working in media and breaking news at senior level. This is not about personal gain, quite the opposite. Speaking out has come at significant personal and professional cost. However, some issues are simply too serious to ignore. For me personally, the situation became more acute because I am also the father of two young adolescent daughters.

Before any allegations came to light, we worked constructively with senior council officers, MPs and local politicians. Those relationships were, in my experience, mutually beneficial and typical of the relationship between a local authority and its local press.

We published positive stories that were in the interest of the town, supported civic initiatives and challenged where necessary. That relationship changed sharply after we raised concerns around governance, criminal association and corruption. We also acted as a connector between stakeholders, media and local businesses.

Meanwhile, press releases have been issued about over budget and delayed vanity projects, while long standing issues of child poverty and deprivation remain unaddressed.

We have written repeatedly to senior political figures, including the Prime Minister, Arooj Shah, Jim McMahon and Jess Phillips. The outcome was not dialogue or clarification, but a legal letter barring me from all council buildings and my exclusion from a council meeting. The officer involved executed that exclusion before I had even arrived at the civic building.

Furthermore, it is our understanding that senior legal and communications figures later insinuated that I may have been intoxicated on the evening in question, despite the fact that I was refused entry on arrival. I was subsequently described as unbonafide media, despite more than thirty years working in the industry.

I was later required to appeal to enter council buildings to simply to accompany my daughters to a public library or shopping centre.

During this period, we listened carefully to Raja Miah, who has publicly set out detailed allegations, naming individuals and alleging links between historic and more recent events in Oldham. He has repeatedly sought responses from senior politicians and public officials. Where responses have been provided, he disputes their accuracy or completeness, arguing that limited engagement followed by contested statements has deepened mistrust rather than resolved it.

It was the scale, consistency and seriousness of these claims, combined with the absence of independent scrutiny, that compelled us to speak publicly about what we believe has happened to those who raise concerns.

It is our belief that the current leadership of Oldham Council has responded defensively rather than transparently. Those raising uncomfortable questions, including Raja Miah, ourselves and others, appear to have been marginalised, discredited or excluded rather than engaged with openly.

Instead of openness and transparency, what has followed has included legal correspondence, exclusion from council meetings and what we believe to be defamation, discrediting and smearing.

We firmly believe these actions form part of a broader strategy to suppress scrutiny and damage credibility.

For a long time, I have expressed the view that some council officers and politicians operate in a bullying and undemocratic manner. I now feel compelled to speak out for the greater good of Oldham, its young victims and those who have had the courage to raise concerns.

We, along with others, are deeply worried about criminal influence and the misuse of power within local institutions, whether directly or by proxy. These are serious matters that warrant immediate, independent investigation.

It may reasonably be argued that Oldham would be an appropriate starting point for the national inquiry, given its repeated use as a political frontline both locally and nationally. An independent process would help halt accusations of political point scoring and restore public confidence in a situation that continues to deteriorate.

Meaningful accountability must go beyond words. It must include senior figures in Oldham stepping aside where appropriate, the removal of injunctions or barriers that

inhibit legitimate scrutiny and a mature, transparent approach to sharing interim findings as part of the government’s national inquiry. Where harm has been caused, amends must be made swiftly, openly and proportionately.

We reserve all legal rights in relation to what we believe to be aggressive defamation and serious reputational harm. At the same time, we continue to protect our business and our small, dedicated team while operating under sustained pressure.

It is our firm view that this situation is damaging not only to individuals, but to Oldham as a town. A failure to confront the truth does not protect communities, it weakens them.

Transparency, independent investigation and accountability are not threats to democracy, they are its foundation. Suppression, avoidance and silence only deepen mistrust.

Surely it is time for absolute, unequivocal leadership transparency so Oldham can start to heal.

MR

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