Mr Musk, a key ally of US President Donald Trump, additionally mentioned safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in jail” after she denied requests for the Dwelling Workplace to guide a public inquiry into youngster sexual exploitation in Oldham.
Right here is all of the background to the inquiries which were executed and why the Dwelling Workplace Minister has refused requires a recent investigation in Oldham.
Why is Sir Keir Starmer being criticised by Elon Musk?
Mr Musk prompt the latest determination by Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips to reject requires a Authorities inquiry into alleged grooming gangs in Oldham was a part of a canopy as much as defend Sir Keir.
As an alternative of the Authorities main a probe, Oldham should comply with within the footsteps of different cities like Rotherham and Telford and fee its personal inquiry into historic abuse of youngsters, Ms Phillips mentioned in a letter to the native council.
The tycoon tweeted: “Within the UK, severe crimes corresponding to rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to cost suspects. Who was the pinnacle of the CPS when rape gangs have been allowed to use younger women with out going through justice? Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013.
“Who’s the boss of Jess Phillips proper now? Keir Starmer. The true motive she’s refusing to research the rape gangs is that it might clearly result in the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS on the time).”
A 2022 report discovered kids within the Manchester suburb have been failed by care businesses amid allegations of alleged grooming by “predominantly Pakistani offenders” in council properties and shisha bars, and by taxi drivers.
In 2012, when he was main the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Sir Keir admitted that the CPS had let weak women down below after a case was dropped towards a rape suspect in 2009 regardless of proof pointing to their guilt.
He mentioned on the time: “In numerous circumstances offered to us, significantly in circumstances involving teams, there’s clearly a difficulty of ethnicity that must be understood and addressed.
“As prosecutors we shouldn’t shrink back from that. But when we’re trustworthy, it’s the method to the victims, the credibility concern, that precipitated these circumstances to not be prosecuted up to now. There was a lack of awareness.”
As Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir gave the inexperienced mild to cost members of the Rochdale grooming gang in 2013 and in addition launched reforms that modified the best way the CPS handles youngster intercourse abuse circumstances.
A leaked letter reveals that in September 2022, the then Conservative minister for safeguarding, Amanda Solloway, wrote to an Oldham councillor additionally dismissing a request for a public inquiry.
“It’s for the native authorities in particular person cities and cities that are accountable for delivering native companies, to fee native inquiries,” she mentioned.
What inquiries have already been executed into the kid sexual exploitation grooming scandal?
There have been quite a few native investigations into the systematic rape and sexual assault of women and younger girls by organised grooming gangs in areas throughout the UK. They embrace in Rotherham, Telford, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Oldham, Rochdale and Bristol.
An inquiry into abuse in Rotherham discovered that 1,400 kids have been abused over a 16-year interval, predominantly by British Pakistani males.
A damning report launched final 12 months discovered severe failings in efforts to guard kids from sexual abuse by grooming gangs in Rochdale. The report’s creator Malcolm Newsam mentioned many abusers had been left unpunished resulting from police and council failings.
He discovered investigations weren’t properly sufficient resourced to match the “scale of the widespread organised exploitation” carried about by numerous predominantly Asian males in Rochdale.
In Telford as much as 1,000 women have been abused over 4 many years and investigators discovered that some allegations had not been investigated due to “nervousness about race”.
An inquiry was arrange in Oldham after rumours that kids have been being groomed in council-run properties, shisha bars, and by taxi drivers.
Whereas it didn’t discover proof of widespread sexual exploitation in these settings, it identified severe failings amongst safeguarding companies within the space.
The Unbiased Inquiry into Baby Intercourse Abuse (IICSA) which revealed its last report in 2022, introduced collectively a number of of those inquiries collectively alongside its personal investigations.
What has been the results of the studies and inquiries?
Professor Alexis Jay, who led the IICSA, has mentioned she felt “annoyed” that none of its 20 suggestions to deal with abuse had been applied greater than two years after her report was revealed.
She mentioned: “It is a troublesome subject material, however it’s important that there is some public understanding of it.
“However we will solely do what we will to press the federal government to have a look at the supply of all of this.
“It would not want extra session, it doesn’t want extra analysis or dialogue, it simply must be executed.”
In April 2023, then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrange the Grooming Gangs Taskforce. It includes of specialist officers who work with all 43 police forces in England and Wales to help youngster sexual exploitation and grooming investigations.
In Could, the federal government mentioned the taskforce had helped police arrest over 550 suspects, determine and defend over 4,000 victims, and “construct up strong circumstances to get justice for these appalling crimes”.
The scandals have fuelled far-right campaigns which have targeted on circumstances of large-scale abuse carried out primarily by males of Pakistani descent, and investigation which prompt “nervousness about race” had prevented victims being helped.
In April 2023, the federal government pledged extra information on the make-up of grooming gangs, together with ethnicity, to assist guarantee suspects “can not cover behind cultural sensitivities as a strategy to evade justice”.
The three most infamous youngster intercourse gang circumstances – Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford – all had preparators predominantly of Pakistani and South Asian respectable.
Nevertheless, a Dwelling Workplace research in 2020 discovered group-based youngster sexual exploitation offenders “are mostly white”. Some circumstances, such because the 2010 convictions of a gaggle of white males, and a girl, for abusing 30 kids within the Camborne space of Cornwall, acquired much less consideration than the convictions within the North West.
Why have there been calls for an additional inquiry?
Tory chief Kemi Badenoch has argued a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs is “lengthy overdue”.
She mentioned 2025 “should be the 12 months that victims get justice”.
“The time is lengthy overdue for a full nationwide inquiry into the rape gangs scandal,” she mentioned.
“Trials have taken place all around the nation in recent times however nobody in authority has joined the dots. 2025 should be the 12 months that the victims begin to get justice.”
Shadow residence secretary Chris Philp and shadow safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns pressed for a statutory inquiry in Oldham, regardless of the Tory authorities turning down the concept in 2022.
They mentioned that solely a public inquiry “can adequately embody the nationwide nature of those crimes and points” and take into account whether or not studies have been ignored by the police, CPS and native council “and even coated up”..
An Oldham Council spokesman mentioned: “Survivors sit on the coronary heart of our work to finish youngster sexual exploitation.
“No matter occurs when it comes to future inquiries, we now have promised them that their needs will likely be paramount, and we is not going to renege on that pledge.”
What does the Labour authorities say?
Well being Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned: “A few of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made, I feel are misjudged and definitely misinformed, however we’re keen to work with Elon Musk, who I feel has bought a giant function to play together with his social media platform to assist us and different nations to deal with this severe concern.
He added that ministers have been supportive of an inquiry into the Oldham scandal, however signalled it needed to be led domestically.
“There might be, and we predict there’s a good case for additional inquiries into particular locations, Oldham being a great and newest instance. “We’d completely encourage and work with Oldham in establishing their very own inquiries,” he mentioned.
A Labour spokesperson mentioned the federal government is “working at tempo to implement the suggestions” in Professor Alexis Jay’s IICSA report.
They added: “Now we have supported each the nationwide overarching inquiry into youngster abuse, which reported in 2022, and native unbiased inquiries and opinions together with in Telford, Rotherham and Larger Manchester.
“This authorities is working urgently to strengthen the regulation in order that these crimes are correctly reported and investigated.”
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