The failure of police and prosecutors to properly investigate allegations of sexual abuse against gangs of mainly Pakistani men continues to haunt those responsible. But what if the rest of the country was unable to fully discuss this issue because the law forbade it?
The government is preparing to issue an official definition of so-called Islamophobia, which could see people prosecuted if they are deemed to have said something inappropriate about the religion.
Some have likened this to the return of the old blasphemy laws that once protected Christian theology but were abandoned years ago, with Christianity now the only religion that anyone is allowed to experiment with.
Believers may find this difficult to digest, but in a free country religions should not be protected from criticism. Yet that is what is considered for Islam and its followers.
The precise definition has yet to be determined and insiders say it would not be legally binding. But organizations would be urged to adopt it, as they undoubtedly would in the public sector.
Free speech campaigners say a definition drawn up by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims appears to indicate that using the phrase 'sex groomer' in relation to a person from a Muslim background could be Islamophobic.
Whistleblowers who tried to bring these men's activities to the attention of authorities in Rotherham, Oldham and other towns have been accused of racism. The toxic nature of this debate has even drawn into the fray the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who has used the X-platform he owns to attack Labor ministers and now reform leader Nigel Farage.
A simple way to avoid escalation is for Labor to drop the whole idea of an official definition of Islamophobia. It violates free speech and undermines public trust.
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