Leaked documents raise questions about whether a joint police and council operation was used against those exposing the rape gang cover-up, with information flowing into Andy Burnham’s own review while the operation itself remained beyond scrutiny.
There is a police operation Greater Manchester Police will not talk about. For years the public was allowed to believe it existed to hunt the men who raped Oldham’s children. It carried a Gold command structure, the apparatus reserved for terror attacks and major disasters, and it ran for years in near total secrecy.
The documents tell a different story. The operation was watching the people exposing the cover up of the rape gangs. Two sitting Labour MPs fed complaints into it. Its intelligence circulated among Labour politicians who then weaponised it against private citizens. And its product flowed, by written agreement, into Andy Burnham’s assurance review, the same review that would declare there had been no cover up, while the operation itself was placed beyond the review’s reach.
They called it Operation Hexagon. It never charged a single man over the rape of a child. The cases it built against the people it hunted collapsed. Had those cases held, there would be no National Inquiry into the grooming gangs today.
What follows is the evidence. A leaked email from the Leader of Oldham Council. The operation’s name written into the founding document of the Mayor’s own review. Statements from GMP’s command team. Court rulings. Dates that align too neatly to be accident. Read it all and decide for yourself who Operation Hexagon was built to stop.
Serious questions have been raised about the conduct of Greater Manchester Police following allegations that an operation intended to investigate individuals exposing failures surrounding child sexual exploitation was instead used to monitor and pursue whistleblowers. The allegations have created renewed controversy surrounding Andy Burnham, his handling of historical grooming gang scandals and the relationship between political authorities and the police force operating under their regional oversight. At the centre of the controversy is a disturbing question: were the authorities doing everything possible to protect vulnerable children and bring their abusers to justice, or were some of their resources directed towards investigating those who exposed institutional failures?
The controversy is particularly sensitive because Greater Manchester has experienced some of Britain’s most serious child sexual exploitation scandals. For years, vulnerable girls were groomed, sexually assaulted and exploited by groups of men while institutions responsible for protecting them repeatedly failed to respond effectively. Survivors and campaigners have described how warnings were ignored, complaints were dismissed and opportunities to prevent further abuse were lost. These failures have damaged public confidence in the police and local authorities and raised fundamental questions about accountability.
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One of the most important figures in exposing these failures has been former Greater Manchester Police detective Maggie Oliver. During her career, Oliver became increasingly concerned about the treatment of vulnerable children and the failure of senior officials to investigate allegations of organised sexual exploitation adequately. She eventually left the police after becoming dissatisfied with the response to her concerns.
Sara Rowbotham, a former coordinator of Rochdale’s Crisis Intervention Team, also played an important role in bringing the scandal into the public spotlight. She had worked directly with vulnerable young people and repeatedly raised concerns about the abuse they were experiencing. Her warnings, alongside Oliver’s efforts, helped expose the scale of the institutional failures in Rochdale.
The BBC documentary The Betrayed Girls, broadcast in 2017, brought renewed national attention to these issues. Its revelations prompted further questions about whether the police, local authorities and other public institutions had failed to protect children despite receiving repeated warnings.
Following these revelations, Andy Burnham, then Mayor of Greater Manchester, commissioned an independent assurance review into the handling of child sexual exploitation cases across the region. The purpose was to examine historical failures, identify lessons and establish whether sufficient improvements had been made to protect children in the future.
However, a new controversy emerged in July 2026 after investigative commentary published by Red Wall and the Rabble alleged that a secretive police and council operation, known as Operation Hexagon, had been used to monitor individuals who were exposing the grooming gang scandal. The publication claimed that leaked documents raised questions about the operation’s purpose, its relationship with political figures and the way information was shared with the mayor’s independent review.
According to the publication, Operation Hexagon had a formal command structure and operated for an extended period. It alleged that intelligence relating to people who were criticising the handling of child sexual exploitation cases was collected and circulated among political figures. It also questioned whether information from the operation had been used in ways that affected private individuals who were attempting to expose institutional failures.
These are serious allegations, but they must be distinguished from independently established findings. The published account presents an investigative interpretation of leaked documents, and its claims require independent verification. The available material does not establish that Andy Burnham personally ordered police officers to target whistleblowers or that the entire operation was designed to protect child abusers.
Nevertheless, the allegations deserve proper examination. If police intelligence was collected or shared for political purposes rather than legitimate policing objectives, that would raise serious concerns about the independence and accountability of law enforcement.
The central issue is whether Operation Hexagon was established for a legitimate investigative purpose and whether its powers were used appropriately. Police forces routinely collect intelligence about individuals when there is a lawful and necessary reason to do so. However, such powers must never be used to intimidate critics, discourage whistleblowers or protect influential people from scrutiny.
A particularly important question concerns the relationship between the operation and Burnham’s assurance review. The published allegations suggest that information from Operation Hexagon may have been shared with the review team, while aspects of the operation itself were allegedly outside the review’s examination.
If this account is accurate, it raises questions about the independence and completeness of the review. An investigation intended to examine institutional failures must have access to relevant evidence and must be able to consider whether the authorities themselves acted appropriately. No organisation should be able to determine which aspects of its own conduct are beyond examination without a clear and defensible reason.
The historical record already demonstrates that Greater Manchester’s response to child sexual exploitation involved serious failures. An independent review into Rochdale, published in January 2024, identified widespread organised sexual exploitation between 2004 and 2013. It found that children had been left exposed to their abusers because of inadequate responses from Greater Manchester Police and Rochdale Council.
The report was particularly critical of the failure to recognise the scale of organised abuse and the inability of successive police operations to investigate the allegations effectively. It also praised whistleblowers who had continued raising concerns despite facing professional and personal difficulties.
Burnham himself welcomed the report and thanked Maggie Oliver and Sara Rowbotham for their courage. He acknowledged that the institutions responsible for protecting children had failed them and called for every possible lead to be followed up to identify perpetrators.
The report also identified serious concerns about the lack of cooperation from some former senior officials. Five police officers, including an assistant chief constable, and the former head of Rochdale children’s services either declined to participate or failed to respond to requests for interviews. Burnham described this lack of cooperation as unacceptable.
These findings demonstrate why the latest allegations surrounding Operation Hexagon cannot simply be dismissed as another political disagreement. Public institutions have a responsibility to provide complete explanations when serious concerns are raised about their treatment of whistleblowers and survivors.
Another important issue is the effectiveness of the investigations into the original crimes. The Rochdale review found that the convictions secured through Operation Span in 2012 represented only a small part of the wider pattern of organised exploitation. Although nine men were convicted in the high-profile case, many other allegations and potential perpetrators had not been adequately investigated.
The failure to identify and prosecute all those responsible left survivors feeling abandoned. For many victims, the criminal justice system became another source of disappointment after years of being ignored or disbelieved.
A 2026 national audit led by Baroness Louise Casey has reinforced the importance of addressing these historical failures. The audit highlighted recurring problems involving poor information sharing, inadequate investigations, institutional defensiveness and the failure to hold responsible individuals accountable. It also emphasised that survivors continue to experience serious difficulties obtaining justice and receiving appropriate support.
The report warned that public institutions must stop allowing investigations and inquiries to become exercises in defending their reputations. Their primary responsibility must be to establish the truth, protect children and ensure that perpetrators are brought before the courts.
This principle should also apply to the latest allegations concerning Operation Hexagon. If the operation was legitimate, the authorities should explain its purpose, legal basis, scope and relationship with the independent review. If inappropriate intelligence gathering or political interference occurred, those responsible should face an independent investigation.
The role of Andy Burnham requires careful consideration. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he had an important political responsibility for regional oversight and commissioned the reviews into historical child exploitation failures. However, Greater Manchester Police is operationally independent, and the mayor does not personally direct individual police investigations. Therefore, allegations concerning the conduct of police officers cannot automatically be attributed to him without evidence establishing his involvement.
Nevertheless, political accountability extends beyond issuing statements and commissioning investigations. When serious concerns emerge about the conduct of public institutions, elected leaders must ensure that independent scrutiny is possible and that relevant evidence is not concealed.
The government and relevant oversight bodies should therefore examine the documentary evidence concerning Operation Hexagon. This should include its founding documents, operational objectives, intelligence-sharing arrangements, legal authorisations and communications between police officials and other public authorities. Any examination should also protect the privacy and safety of survivors and individuals who have raised concerns.
Most importantly, whistleblowers must be protected. People who expose wrongdoing often face professional pressure, reputational attacks and personal difficulties. Their willingness to speak out can be essential in identifying institutional failures and preventing further harm. If they believe that reporting misconduct could result in surveillance, intimidation or retaliatory investigations, other witnesses may remain silent.
In conclusion, the allegations surrounding Operation Hexagon have raised serious questions about policing, political accountability and the treatment of people who exposed child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester. The historical failures documented in Rochdale and other parts of the region are already established, and the suffering experienced by victims must never be minimised. The newer claims that police resources were used to pursue whistleblowers rather than perpetrators remain allegations requiring independent verification. Andy Burnham has a responsibility to support transparency and ensure that all relevant evidence can be examined without political interference. Ultimately, the priority must be the protection of children, justice for survivors and accountability for anyone who abused public authority. The credibility of the police and local government depends not on their ability to defend themselves against criticism, but on their willingness to confront uncomfortable evidence and demonstrate that the interests of vulnerable children always come first.