Labour candidate from scandal-hit Rotherham Council forced to STAND DOWN after GB News investigation

The Labour parliamentary candidate for Rother Valley has tonight stood down following a GB News investigation.

Dominic Beck was forced to stand down as huge pressure mounted on Labour leader Keir Starmer to intervene. Cllr. Beck was in the council's cabinet eight years ago when a report by Professor Alexis Jay found hundreds of children in the town had been sexually exploited and abused. Cllr. Beck later stepped down in February 2015.

He said in a statement: “It has been the honour of my life to be selected by Labour Party members in the Rother Valley to stand for parliament in the next general election.

“However, I have decided to stand down as the candidate. I understand that recent press coverage and concern about the events of the past make it more difficult for me to lead that campaign.

“I would never wish to do anything that causes further upset to Rotherham's CSE survivors, and it was never my intention to cause them distress.

“I am deeply saddened that this is what has happened.”

After his selection earlier this month, GB News broke the exclusive that Cllr. Beck had to resign as a cabinet member on Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council after the Casey report into the council found that it was in “denial” over the town’s child abuse scandal.

Citing a culture of bullying, sexism, and a refusal to admit that 1,400 girls had been sexually exploited, the Casey report’s damning findings forced the resignation of the entire cabinet, including Beck.

GB News revealed on Tuesday this week that Beck was in part selected as a candidate for Rother Valley by Cllr. Emma Hoddinott, who was the deputy leader of the council when Casey’s findings were published in February 2015.

A survivor of the town’s CSE scandal, speaking on condition of anonymity, told GB News: “This is brilliant, but Beck should have never been able to be a candidate anyway.

"There are too many people in Rotherham who have stayed silent and been promoted in the town’s council.

"Why should people like Beck be rewarded while survivors and their families suffer day in day out?”

They added: “No one who has had knowledge or stayed silent should be serving in any public office, let alone selected to run for Parliament.”