Chronicle boss writes to Oldham Council and the Government seeking transparency regarding numerous controversial issues

Oldham Chronicle boss Matt Ramsbottom has written a lengthy email to Oldham Council and the Government, seeking urgent transparency regarding serious allegations of child abuse, potential corruption and financial mismanagement in the town. 

Mr Ramsbottom, the Oldham-based Credible Media Group CEO, wrote to new Council chief Shelley Kipling today (Thursday) requesting a meeting and hopefully subsequent reassurances regarding a number of topics and concerns which are currently swirling around the borough.

The Chronicle has taken the decision to publish some of the content of the email, which has been sent to Council chiefs, MP Jim McMahon, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Ramsbottom said: "We simply can't ignore what is an unprecedented level of accusations based on experiences, views, opinion and dialogue.

"We have purposely had physical meetings, as well as lengthy discussions, to help try and work out the level of truth in these accusations and allegations circulating online and in person."

The email reads:

We hope this message finds you well.

We are writing to formally request that you consider our testimony in a government cross party select committee into several pressing issues concerning Oldham Council, specifically the cover-up of child abuse, corruption, and financial mismanagement that are not in the interest of the people who live in Oldham.

We believe our testimony would help in various ways. 

It’s fair to say that other testimonies, reports of child abuse cover up, reports of criminality, reports of corruption, and discussions from both individuals and community groups have raised significant concerns online about the integrity of operations and the leadership within the council, particularly regarding the safeguarding of vulnerable children and financial mismanagement - along with turning a blind eye to such important issues.

This dovetails into our own experiences, discussions, emails and meetings, with both the council and Jim McMahon - along analysis and discussions from significant sources, coupled with simple basic journalism with integrity. 

It’s our belief that forensic accounting  would and should be an option in the interest of transparency and openness.

We are sure a P&L with asset list, balance sheet and management accounts will also show trends and will also highlight issues. 

We don’t believe discussions about using the word Pakistani or White is helpful when it comes to child rape and or abuse.

Although a description of perpetrators and victims must be useful to the police in child abuse cases - we are guessing. 

It’s very easy to dismiss social media posts from Raja Miah, and other campaigners, as misinformation.

However, we have found a large percentage of his content and research to be believable - it’s hard to disregard a lot of the information especially when our sources concur - including ex-Oldham Council workers.  

It’s also hard to ignore the comments section on social media as a reflection of community sentiment, this could also be a good argument for solid and fair criticism, as well as potentially facts - especially regarding the feelings of those who live, work, and run small businesses in the area.

Some would say that is modern day feedback for Councils in general. 

We believe the community's trust in local governance is paramount, and it is essential to ensure that any potential misconduct is thoroughly investigated - in all towns and cities in the UK.

It may be argued Oldham is a good sample size for any UK research.

Oldham Chronicle 

The Chronicle is awaiting the Council's response.

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