That seems a crazy stance to take, given the grooming gang scandals which have occurred in towns across the UK that are a fraction of the size of the capital. It stands to reason that London, which is connected to some of these criminal groups, would have issues too.

In fact, I know it’s the case because I’ve interviewed victims of London’s grooming gangs and spoken to whistleblowers who say grooming gangs in London have gone ignored.

Now we are starting to see the signs that, rather than there being “no indication” of a London grooming gang problem, any evidence that the opposite might be true is being hidden from the public.

Hounslow Council revealed in a Freedom of Information request, probably by accident, that it knew of a three-year police investigation into a grooming gang that affected one of its residents.

However, when they were asked about grooming gangs in June, the Labour council said it had “no concerns.”

Confronted with the information they’d let slip in an FOI, Shantanu Rajawat, the local authority’s leader, clarified that they’d not disclosed the case because they “didn’t want to create panic.”

He went on to reveal that “a lot of the cases are dealt with by a specialist team within the Met” and that “behind the scenes” there was “a lot of work going on.”

Strange that when they were asked previously, the response was “no concerns” then. Even more repulsive was their subsequent statement explaining the FOI, which came straight from the victim-blaming playbook.

They decided to let everyone know the investigation was “in relation to a single Hounslow child,” adding that the “investigation was subsequently closed and we understand that no criminal charges were brought.”

Essentially, the line was, ‘Nothing to see here; just one kid, and the charges were dropped.’

Using an alleged victim of child abuse as a shield for their lack of transparency is bad enough, but Hounslow’s stance also ignores the clear imperatives for making these things public.

I’ve interviewed lots of police officers who specialise in sexual offences and nearly every single one of them has told me that publicity is one of the single biggest tools in enabling more victims to come forward.

Reporting a sexual offence to the authorities is a terrifying experience, especially for those who’ve suffered as children. But knowing that the police are taking a case seriously and there are others can be crucial.

Their needs should be the priority, not whether “panic” might ensue.

If there are suspicions that a grooming gang is operating in a particular area, the focus should be on bringing them to justice, not worrying about upsetting people.

That this approach is being taken is incredibly concerning because it has distinct echoes of other grooming gang scandals in other parts of the country, where fears about “raising community tensions” were prioritised over the wellbeing of victims.

We should know from the mistakes of the past that denying the issue only makes things worse.

The question really is how many more of these secrets are being kept and by whom? I tell you now, this massive cover-up is all starting to unravel.