Child abuse inquiry chair attacks ‘politicisation’ of issue and says new investigation would delay reforms – UK politics live

Good morning. Keir Starmer is basking in praise from liberal, progressive Britain today for the way he hit back at calls for a new inquiry into child sexual abuse scandals, and the way they are being driven by inflammatory and false claims by Elon Musk and other rightwingers on X. But Tory Britain has yet to be persuaded, and the rightwing papers are promoting the Conservative party’s (very dubious) claim that Starmer was smearing anyone opposed to child rape as far-right.

This morning Prof Alexis Jay stepped into this argument. As the main chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), the eight-year, all-encompassing inquiry into child sexual abuse in Britain, she has as much authority on this subject as anyone. Today she clearly came out against calls from Musk, Reform UK, the Tories and others for a new national inquiry focusing specifically on rape or grooming gangs.

When it was put to her on the Today programme that Robbie Moore, the Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley, told MPs last night that the scale of sexual abuse in Bradford could “dwarf” what happened in Rotherham, and that this showed why a new inquiry might be useful, she replied:

No, I don’t agree with that, in the sense of requiring further and more detailed national inquiries into child sexual exploitation. We have learned quite a lot from those reviews that have already been undertaken.

Jay said she did not believe that there are many areas where officials are still trying to cover up sexual abuse allegations. It might be happening in some places, she said. “But in general terms we believe that people are well intentioned in their local efforts to address any known problems about child sexual exploitation,” she said.

Asked if she thought a new national inquiry would be counter-productive, she replied:

I think that the time has passed for more inquiries. We’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions, and especially for those victims and survivors who’ve had the courage to come forward …

They clearly want action, and we have set out what action is required, and people should just get on with it, locally and nationally.

Asked if a new inquiry would hinder the implementation of the recommendations from the final IICSA report, which came out in 2022, she replied: “It would certainly cause delays.”

Asked if she thought people calling for a new inquiry were politicising the issue, she replied:

I would not attribute that to everyone, but I’ve certainly been very unhappy about the politicisation of child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse in the way that many people, sometimes in a very uninformed way, have waded into the argument.

This sounded like a clear reference to Musk. But, asked if she thought “billionaires in America” knew what was happening in places like Oldham, Jay said she did not want to talk about individuals.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, holds a phone-in on LBC.

9.30am: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.

9.30am: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, holds a press conference at the Senedd in Cardiff.

10am: Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive at the Electoral Commission, and colleagues give evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee about the 2024 election.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

11.30am: Wes Streeting, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, gives evidene to the Commons housing committee.

2.30pm: Executives from McDonald’s, Tesco and the British Retail Consortium give evidence to the Commons business committee about the employment rights bill.

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