Former child abuse inquiry chair criticises 'weaponisation' of issue by Tory MPs
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Professor Alexis Jay has criticised the "weaponisation" of child sexual abuse by the Conservatives and accused the previous government of an "awful" response to the scandal. The former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said she did not want to give Tory MPs "oxygen" after they called for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The previous Conservative government did not implement any of the 20 recommendations she made after her final report into child sexual abuse, commissioned by then Tory home secretary Theresa May, was published in 2022 after hearing from 7,300 victims and survivors.
It found police and councils downplayed the scale of the problem and children were often blamed for their abuse. Politics latest: 'Total disgrace' that Southport killer could buy knife on Amazon. After the scandal returned to the headlines at the beginning of January, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for another national inquiry and for Labour to implement the recommendations.
Earlier in January, Professor Jay backed Sir Keir Starmer when he rejected calls for another inquiry, saying "the time has passed", but she was more officious on Tuesday when asked about the Tories' latest position. "Our overriding concern is just get it done, at this point," she told the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee.
