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Watching the story of the grooming gangs creek back into life last week – and the interventions from Elon Musk – was like watching the film adaptation of a book I’d already read. I know the story. The same cast of characters and the same familiar plot.
Before there was Elon Musk, there was Raja Miah. Before Jess Phillips, there was Sean Fielding.
My friend Joshi Herrmann, the founder of new news outlet The Mill, has been working on this story for years. What follows is my rough interpretation of his fine work, and some reflections on the story he has unpicked over the last few years. It’s the story of a provocative character with a large online following and the poisoning of political discourse. It’s a story that starts in Oldham, and ends with an intervention from the richest man in the world.
This week, Joshi kindly allowed me to rejoin him on the podcast we used to host together, because the story we have covered before got a whole new lease of life. You can listen to that by clicking here. You should also read Joshi’s brilliant work on this story – this is all him. And I would heartily recommend subscribing to The Mill – or one of their outlets near you. They are a new brand of quality, subscription news outlets. And you’ll understand why I think you should support them… because in part, this is a story about why The Mill is so important.