Chair of child sex abuse inquiry denounces Musk over grooming gangs
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Prof Alexis Jay has backed Starmer and said there is no need for a national inquiry. Keir Starmer has received a boost in his grooming gangs row with Elon Musk after the head of the national child sex abuse inquiry backed the Prime Minister. Professor Alexis Jay backed Sir Keir by saying there is no need for a new national investigation into the issue.
![[Calls for a new grooming gang inquiry have been driven by Elon Musk]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/06/13/455a01cce3e65479e7e8136b39c8c9f1Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2MjU1NTcz-2.74976999.jpg)
In a pointed intervention the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) said those ‘whipping up’ the current furore do not have the interests of victims at heart. Instead of demanding a new inquiry they should ‘step up to the mark’ and implement measures already recommended to tackle the problem.
![[Keir Starmer defended his record of prosecuting grooming gangs from attacks by Elon Musk. (Leon Neal/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/07/00/de525b6ca62c4f8349649a1296d48fdeY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2MjkxNTU2-2.78627971.jpg)
In her first comments since Musk, backed by the Tories, launched a ferocious attack on Starmer, Prof Jay told the BBC: “I have heard very little in the public discourse that has taken place in the last few days - if you can dignify it with that description - that has mentioned children and the appalling and lifelong effects that child sexual abuse can have on people.”.
Prof Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that concluded in 2022, and led a separate inquiry into the Rotherham grooming gangs scandal, said a new national inquiry could even slow down changes already ordered to protect the young.
Asked if those ‘whipping up’ the furite were not focussing on victims Prof Jay replied: “Mainly that is the case from what I have heard of the debate.”. After days of calls for a fresh national inquiry, fuelled primarily by Musk, Prof Jay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday: “We have learned a lot from those reviews that have already been undertaken. Locally people need to step up to the mark and do the things that have been recommended.
