The grooming gangs scandal is again within the headlines after Elon Musk attacked Sir Keir Starmer and minister Jess Phillips for failing youngsters.
The tech billionaire has accused Sir Keir of being “complicit” within the failure of authorities to guard victims and prosecute abusers whereas the PM was director of public prosecutions from 2008-2013.
Sir Keir has hit again at Musk, saying his document reveals how he tackled the problem head-on.
Politics newest: Former baby abuse inquiry chair says new inquiry not wanted
The row began after it was revealed final week safeguarding minister Jess Phillips rejected calls from Oldham Council for a authorities inquiry into historic grooming gangs within the city, with Ms Phillips saying the council ought to lead an inquiry as a substitute.
She has since hit again after Mr Musk’s subsequent assaults on her.
How did the grooming gangs scandal unfold and what prosecutions have there been?
2001: Names of taxi drivers who allegedly picked up ladies from care houses in Rotherham to abuse them are handed to the police and council from 2001. The primary convictions weren’t till 2010, with the most recent in 2024 – a complete of 61.
2004: A Channel 4 documentary about claims younger white ladies in Bradford have been being groomed for intercourse by Asian abusers is delayed as police forces warn it may inflame racial tensions. It was lastly proven three months later.
2010: 11 males, predominantly of an Asian background, are convicted of offences related with the sexual exploitation of youngsters in Derbyshire.
2011: Instances journalist Andrew Norfolk begins receiving tip-offs about baby sexual exploitation by predominantly Asian males in Rotherham. It was his insistence on pursuing the story, regardless of being known as racist and issues the far-right would latch on to it, that finally led to a nationwide inquiry.
2011: A lady abused by a grooming gang in Huddersfield writes a letter to a choose in regards to the abuse she had suffered. It was not till 2013 that one other sufferer got here ahead to police to make formal allegations, then dozens of women and males have been interviewed over the subsequent three years. Victims and their households mentioned they repeatedly advised police and authorities however nothing occurred.
2011: Operation Bullfinch is launched by the police and council in Oxford to look into a baby intercourse abuse ring within the metropolis. The primary convictions are secured in Might 2013, then 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020.
Might 2012: The primary grooming gangs convictions of males from Rochdale and Oldham see 9 discovered responsible of being half of a kid sexual exploitation ring run out of two takeaways in Higher Manchester since 2008. An extra 5 from the Rochdale space have been jailed the next 12 months.
Might 2013: Seven males have been jailed, it emerges, on the conclusion of kid intercourse abuse trials referring to offences within the Telford space.
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Elon Musk has accused Sir Keir of being complicit within the cowl up of grooming gangs. File pic: Reuters
2014: 13 males are convicted of the sexual exploitation of youngsters in Bristol on the conclusion of Operation Brooke.
2017: A complete of 29 males from a Huddersfield grooming gang are charged however a reporting restriction prevents media from reporting on the case to keep away from prejudicing different instances. The ban was criticised by far-right teams, with Tommy Robinson – also referred to as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – jailed for 13 months (later lowered to 9 months) after admitting contempt for filming exterior a court docket throughout the trial.
2018: Twenty males, primarily of Pakistani origin however the ringleader was Sikh, who have been a part of the Huddersfield baby intercourse abuse ring are convicted of 120 rape and abuse offences in opposition to 15 ladies, and sentenced to a complete of 221 years.
Three separate trials needed to be held as there have been so a lot of them. Extra males have been convicted since then, bringing the entire quantity to 41 by August 2021.
2023: A Grooming Gangs Taskforce is ready up by Rishi Sunak’s authorities, with certified officers from all 43 police forces in England and Wales, and knowledge analysts. In Might 2024, 550 suspects had been arrested and 4,000 victims recognized.
2023: 9 additional males are charged with sexual offences in Rotherham below Operation Stovewood. A lot of the offences happened between 2003 and 2008.
2024: Operation Stovewood sees 11 extra males from Rotherham convicted for the abuse of susceptible ladies.
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‘Lies’ over grooming gangs
What inquiries have there been?
There have been 10 inquiries and stories into the grooming gangs.
2013: The Residence Affairs Choose Committee publishes a report into the Rochdale instances, discovering the failure to guard youngsters fell to police, social staff and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors.
2014: An inquiry into grooming gangs in Rotherham, led by Professor Alexis Jay and commissioned by the council in 2013, finds 1,400 youngsters have been sexually abused between 1997 and 2013 by predominantly British-Pakistani males.
Then dwelling secretary Theresa Might commissions the Impartial Inquiry into Little one Sexual Abuse in England and Wales following the Jimmy Savile scandal. Professor Jay grew to become the chair after three others resigned.
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Professor Alexis Jay chaired the Impartial Inquiry into Little one Sexual Abuse
2015: A West Midlands Police report from 2010 is launched publicly after a Freedom of Info request by the Birmingham Mail.
It reveals police knew 5 years earlier than that Asian grooming gangs have been focusing on youngsters exterior colleges in Birmingham however have been nervous about group tensions if it was made public.
2015: A report into Rotherham Council’s dealing with of kid sexual abuse, commissioned by the federal government and led by Baroness Casey, finds the council had a bullying, sexist tradition of masking up data and silencing whistleblowers.
A brand new police inquiry into baby sexual abuse in Rotherham is launched, with 19 males and two ladies convicted in 2016 and 2017 of sexual offences courting again to the late Eighties.
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Former detective Maggie Oliver grew to become a whistleblower for victims. Pic: PA
2015: A critical case evaluate by Oxfordshire Safeguarding Youngsters’s Partnership finds 373 youngsters (together with 50 boys) may have been groomed and sexually exploited within the metropolis. It accused Thames Valley Police of not believing youngsters after they complained.
2019: An impartial evaluate into historic baby sexual exploitation in Oldham shisha bars from 2011 to 2014 is commissioned by Higher Manchester mayor Andy Burnham after Oldham council requested it.
2022: The Impartial Inquiry into Little one Sexual Abuse by Professor Jay is revealed after 12 years. It finds police and councils downplayed the dimensions of the issue and kids have been usually blamed for his or her abuse.
It makes suggestions, together with necessary reporting of kid sexual abuse by folks working with youngsters, the institution of a nationwide monetary compensation scheme for victims “let down by institutions” and the creation of a kid safety authority.
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A number of inquiries have discovered grooming gang victims weren’t believed and there have been fears of racism accusations. File pic
2022: Oldham councillors known as for a authorities inquiry into grooming gangs within the city however the Conservative authorities rejected it and mentioned the native authority ought to fee a evaluate.
2022: Higher Manchester’s inquiry into Oldham grooming gangs was launched. It discovered the police and council failed to guard susceptible youngsters and coated up their failings.
2022: The Telford impartial inquiry was revealed and located greater than 1,000 youngsters within the city have been sexually exploited and the abuse was allowed to proceed for years, with youngsters usually blamed.
The inquiry discovered points weren’t investigated due to nervousness about race, with academics and youth staff discouraged from reporting baby sexual exploitation.
2024: Oldham councillors once more known as for a authorities inquiry however safeguarding minister Jess Phillips mentioned the council needed to carry it out.
What’s Sir Keir Starmer’s involvement?
2008-2013: Sir Keir Starmer was director of public prosecutions (DPP), head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which conducts felony prosecutions in England and Wales, for 5 years.
2009: The CPS was criticised for not prosecuting Rochdale grooming gang suspects in 2008 and 2009. It mentioned the principle sufferer was “unreliable” so dropped the case.
2010-2011: In that monetary 12 months, baby sexual abuse prosecutions reached 4,794 – the best throughout Sir Keir’s time as DPP. In 2016/17, practically there have been practically 7,200 prosecutions.
2011: The choice to not prosecute in Rochdale was overturned by Nazir Afzal, chief prosecutor for northwest England, appointed by Sir Keir.
2013: A Residence Affairs Committee report mentioned not like different companies, the CPS had “readily admitted victims had been let down by them and have attempted both to discover the cause of this systemic failure and to improve the way things are done so as to avoid a repetition of such events”.
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Keir Starmer and Elon Musk have been sparring over the PM’s function within the grooming gangs scandal. Pic: PA
The report added: “Mr Starmer has striven to improve the treatment of victims of sexual assault within the criminal justice system throughout his term as DPP.”
Maggie Oliver, a former Manchester detective and whistleblower, advised the BBC the CPS “bears a great deal of responsibility for the failures around this issue”, together with bringing insufficient fees and blaming victims.
2013: Sir Keir revised steerage on baby sexual exploitation to make future prosecutions simpler. Earlier than, victims might not have been considered as credible if that they had not complained instantly, if that they had used medicine or alcohol, or dressed and acted particularly methods.
2013: The Little one Sexual Abuse Evaluation Panel was created by Sir Keir to evaluate CPS choices to not carry fees or terminate proceedings after 5 June 2013.
What has Elon Musk mentioned?
The billionaire, who posts on X, which he owns, many instances every single day, has additionally given a collection of interviews, and has commented on the grooming gangs and baby intercourse exploitation instances previously. He has proven help for each Reform and Tommy Robinson and commenced to put up in regards to the grooming gangs scandal repeatedly, in response to others, in late December and early January.
31 December: In response to an X put up referencing the grooming gangs and claiming “out of political correctness, the government did everything it could to cover up the crimes”, Mr Musk replied: “The government officials responsible, including those in the judiciary, need to fired in shame over this”
In response to a put up that claimed that “Parents who attempted to rescue their children were arrested when the police arrived”, he mentioned on X: “So many people at all levels of power in the UK need to be in prison for this.”
1 January: Then, after a collection of different posts responding to folks expressing related views, together with sympathy for Tommy Robinson and help for Reform, he responded to a put up saying “Labour’s Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding, refused to back a public inquiry into child exploitation in Oldham” by saying: “Shameful conduct by Jess Phillips. Throw her out.”
2 January: He responds to a poster by calling for a brand new election, then…
He posts: “In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects. Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013
“Who’s the boss of Jess Phillips proper now? Keir Stamer. The true purpose she’s refusing to analyze the rape gangs is that it could clearly result in the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS on the time).”
Responding to a post criticising what someone called the legacy media, he said: “This is similar media that hid the truth that 1 / 4 million little ladies have been – nonetheless are – being systematically raped by migrant gangs in Britain. They’re beneath contempt. Despicable human beings.”
3 January: In response to a post talking about the cost of another public inquiry, he says: “No UK authorities inquiry for the gang rape of harmless little ladies, however £22M spent on an clearly violent lunatic. Disgrace, disgrace, disgrace.”
He went on to accuse Keir Starmer of being “responsible of complicity” and accusing Jess Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist”.
4 January: He responded to an article in The Daily Telegraph, which claimed to show how the grooming scandal was “coated up”, by saying “How the rape of Britain was coated up” and then later added: “The sniveling cowards who allowed the mass rape of little ladies in Britain are nonetheless in energy … for now”.
