The BBC drama Three Girls, about the grooming of white teenage girls by Pakistani men in Rochdale, won critical acclaim earlier this year. Now a blistering feature-length documentary, The Betrayed Girls tells the story behind the headlines, exploring why the police turned a blind eye to systematic sexual grooming for decades.

The film raised uncomfortable questions about multicultural Britain and the failure of the establishment to protect societys most vulnerable. At its heart lay the conclusion that political correctness stopped the authorities from publicly condemning Pakistani men for fear of racist accusations.

It was only when a Muslim lawyer was appointed chief prosecutor of North West England that the abusers were brought to justice.

Political correctness was just one of the social attitudes that led to the failure of the police to prosecute numerous men, largely Pakistani, in cities including Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester. The indifference towards vulnerable, sexually active girls many of whom were in care and deemed to be deviant was also palpable.

Sara Rowbotham, a care worker in Rochdale, reported more than 100 cases of abuse to the police, but none was investigated. In the West Yorkshire town of Keighley, police dismissed reports of abuse of girls aged 12 and 13 because they were consenting even though sex with a minor is an illegal act.

Labour MP Ann Cryer tried and failed to make Keighley police take the reports of abuse by Pakistani men seriously. In the film, she blames political correctitude. Her fears that the story would be reclaimed by the far-right came true when BNP leader Nick Griffin seized on the reports to protest in Keighley against Muslim men abusing white British girls. It was a fear that also prevented Times journalist Andrew Norfolk from originally covering the story.

In another recent documentary, Channel 4s Wife Swap: Brexit Special, Leaver Pauline says she backed Brexit because of political correctness gone mad. The Rochdale abuse scandal broke years before Brexit, but at its heart lies a familiar narrative of the establishment looking after its own interests while white, working-class people are ignored.

The Betrayed Girls was unflinching in its verdict of the polices failure. Its rare to find I agree with a Daily Mail headline, but the only conclusion to draw is that the girls were betrayed by the PC cowards. Its a lesson we must all learn from.

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The Betrayed Girls: A case of political correctness gone badly ... - iNews