Reform UK would launch an independent inquiry into grooming gangs if elected into power, its chairman has said. It comes after Elon Musk attacked the UK Government over the issue, saying Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions.
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf said his party would launch a national inquiry into the “despicable crimes of grooming gangs” that would “leave no stone unturned.”
“We will ensure a full national independent inquiry into the despicable crimes of the grooming gangs that have terrorised young girls in this country,” he told supporters at a party conference in Chelmsford, Essex, on Saturday.
“This inquiry will leave no stone unturned to ensure justice for the victims and their families, it will ensure that the perpetrators, the monstrous perpetrators, and the officials who enable them by turning a blind eye are brought to justice and are made to pay the heaviest price for their crime.
“We will do the things necessary to heal this country, because we’re the only ones who can.”
Maggie Oliver, a former detective who uncovered police failings in investigating grooming gangs, on Friday criticised previous inquiries and called for an independent investigation and “criminal accountability” for public officials and police who “turned a blind eye”.
(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
The whistleblower, who resigned from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in 2012, said Sir Keir is “perhaps as guilty as anyone” over the failure to bring about change. Tesla boss Mr Musk had claimed the Prime Minister failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP) between 2008 and 2013.
Ms Oliver said on X that inquiries into what happened have led “absolutely nowhere” and “wasted” millions of pounds, adding that those leading them “have always wanted to cover up the truth”. She went on: “I firmly believe we need totally independent people who will ensure it’s not just another attempt to delay and hide the truth. Radical change and overhaul of all our public bodies.
“Bring in criminal accountability for all our senior police and public officials who have turned a blind eye. Those with vested interests who pop up when this hits the headlines then fade away again when it all dies down will not bring change. They’re in it for themselves I believe.
“Conservatives and Labour are all equally to blame imo (in my opinion), and Keir Starmer as former DPP is perhaps as guilty as anyone I know in where we find ourselves today. We all know what’s going on but I don’t trust a single one of those who to date have been entrusted with keeping our children safe and prosecuting serial rapists. They’ve failed. Repeatedly. Knowingly. Criminally.”
Mr Musk, a key member of incoming US President Donald Trump’s inner circle, also suggested safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she denied requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham on Thursday.
Instead, Ms Phillips said, in a letter to the local council, Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns like Rotherham and Telford and commission its own inquiry into historical abuse of children. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told the PA news agency that ministers are supportive of an inquiry into the Oldham scandal, but signalled it had to be led locally.
Whistleblower Sara Rowbotham, co-ordinator of the crisis intervention team set up to support young people in Rochdale, expressed frustration at Mr Musk’s posts about the scandal on X, which he owns. She told The Guardian: “What is (Musk’s) motivation for interfering? It seems very political.
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
“The person he is trying to go after is Keir Starmer – it is a political swipe that is nothing to do with the women and girls who have been abused time after time.” The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, which published its final report in 2022, described the sexual abuse of children as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake”.
Led by Professor Alexis Jay, the inquiry looked into abuse by organised groups following multiple convictions of sexual offences against children across the UK between 2010-2014, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol.
In November last year, Prof Jay said she felt “frustrated” that none of the probe’s 20 recommendations had been implemented more than two years after its conclusion. The Labour Party and Number 10 have been approached for comment.
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