❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Matthew McGregor, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Head of Political Strategy, co-authored a report with convicted pedophile Liron Velleman, downplaying what they described as “so-called ‘grooming’ gangs.” Velleman, also a sitting Labour Party elected councillor, was convicted this year after sending images of his penis to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, as well as asking if she was “at home alone” and demanding to know whether she was a virgin, as well as asking: “Show me your bra.” 📺 DETAIL: The 2021 Hope Not Hate report, titled ‘Backlash, Conspiracies & Confrontation,’ focused on “the rise in awareness and popularity of conspiracy theories” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Matthew McGregor and Liron Velleman are listed as “contributors.” On Page 87, in ‘Section 6 – Mainstream Hate,’ a report titled ‘Denialism Must End,’ opens by stating: “ LIRON VELLEMAN and MATTHEW MCGREGOR review another year in which poison infected the mainstream.” On Page 35, in ‘Section 2 – Racism,’ in a sub-section called ‘Truth Under Siege,’ the report describes “trumped-up grooming allegations” in England, and supporters of anti-grooming gangs activists of “accusing police and the media of a ‘cover up’ when police found no evidence of grooming.“ The segment refers to the case of Eleanor Williams, who claimed she had been abused by a grooming gang. However, in 2023, three brothers, Joman, Amran, and Alman Miah, were prosecuted for historic sexual abuse of multiple white working-class girls between 1996 and 2010. The offenses spanned rape, indecent assault, kidnapping, and child sex abuse. While different from the Williams investigation, the case demonstrated that organized child sexual exploitation had, in fact, occurred. On Page 115, under a sub-section titled “Far Right Alternative Media And ‘Citizen Journalists,'” the report predicted: “If the lockdown measures ease and the pandemic becomes less all consuming, he is likely to return to his longstanding preoccupation with so-called ‘grooming’ gangs.“ On Page 127, under a sub-section titled “Populist/Radical Right,” the report provided a brief overview of Hearts of Oak, a British political commentary channel on YouTube, referencing a Westminster protest organized by the channel’s founders demanding “the deportation of ‘grooming’ gang members.” 🎯 IMPACT: In 2023, in his capacity as Political Organizer for Hope Not Hate, Velleman was invited to the UK Parliament to provide oral evidence regarding the Online Safety Bill, a piece of legislation that has since been passed into law, pitched as aiming to protect children from online pornography, but heavily criticized for its censorious and anti-privacy provisions. Velleman gave evidence regarding protecting “children and adults alike” from “terrorist, illegal, abusive and harmful content.” | 
