Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have been talking about British grooming gangs this week.
The world’s richest man, Donald Trump’s close ally and tapped to co-lead a new department cutting US government spending, Elon Musk, began the new year by reviving the child sex abuse scandal which hit the headlines a decade ago.
He has attacked PM Keir Starmer for – according to Musk – not prosecuting enough abusers when he was director of public prosecutions.
He has also called safeguarding minister Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” who should be in jail.
The topic has since gained traction, although MPs voted against a Tory proposal to launch a national inquiry into the scandal.
As the issue continues to weigh heavily on British politics, here’s everything you need to know about when it started and why we’re talking about it again now.
When did it start?
The scandal first came to light when Yorkshire MP Ann Cryer was approached by seven mothers from a town outside of Bradford in 2003.
The women told her they were struggling to get through to the authorities about their young daughters, whom they said needed to be protected from their British-Pakistani “boyfriends”.
The MP then went head-to-head with local services and police, and began to campaign against underage marriage.
The issue grew as more media outlets reported on it – and the far-right British National Party began to protest over the scandal.
How was Keir Starmer involved?
Keir Starmer became the director of public prosecutions (DPP) in 2008, although his team only became aware of the scandal two years later when The Times’ Andrew Norfolk investigated grooming gangs around Manchester.
The first offenders linked to the crimes were convicted in 2012 although many other cases never made it to trial.
Amid accusations over his performance as DPP, Starmer told the press on Monday that when he left office “we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record”.
Norfolk also stood up for Starmer this week, telling The Times: “I want to put the record straight on this. It was Starmer who changed the rules to make more prosecutions possible.
“That happened and there was a huge increase in convictions.”
When did the first inquiries start?
A report into grooming gangs in Rotherham was released in 2014, looking into the sexual exploitation of children in the town between 1997 and 2013.
Led by Professor Alexis Jay, the probe pointed to the failure of the town council and South Yorkshire police for regarding “many child victims with contempt”.
The report also found “the majority of perpetrators were described as Asian by victims,” and that several council staff “described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist.”
The report concluded: “No one knows the true scale of the child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham over the years. Our conservative estimate is that approximately 1,400 children were sexually exploited over the full inquiry period, from 1997 to 2013.”
The following year, Jay started to investigate historic claims of child sex abuse on a wider scale, examining Westminster, the BBC and NHS in Britain’s most complicated and wide-reaching statutory inquiry ever.
She chaired the £200m Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, a seven year inquiry into rape gangs, grooming from foster parents, church leaders and care home staff.
Her final 2022 report included a list of 20 recommendations to transform the way child abuse is handled in the UK – but none of them have yet been implemented.
Jay has more recently told the BBC that the Tory government was “weak” for not putting these suggestions into action when they first came out.
Labour say now is the time for action rather than for another inquiry, pledging to implement the recommendations in full.
What did Alexis Jay recommend – and what has been implemented?
1. A Cabinet minister solely dedicated to children
Labour say the education secretary already has that in her portfolio.
2. A legal, mandatory duty to report child abuse
Labour says this is being implemented in the Spring.
3. A national database of abuse
Home secretary Yvette Cooper pledged to implement that earlier this week.
4 and 5. National financial compensation scheme for abuse victims
The Tories pledged to introduce this in 2023, but it’s yet to be set up.
6, 7 and 8. Establish new child protection bodies including inspecting institutions for child protection, and a register for staff in care homes and young offenders’ institutes.
The Tories said they agreed “with the spirit” of these recommendations but that these functions already exist within other statutory and non-statutory bodies.
9. National public awareness campaigns about grooming and the signs to look out for.
There have been no campaigns.
10, 11 and 12. Use the disclosure and barring service (DBS) list to check staff working or volunteering with children do not have to be barred.
This has not been implemented.
13 and 14. Crack down on online abuse by implementing stronger age verification measures and make sure internet companies have to screen images before uploading them.
The Tories launched the online safety act in 2023, including mandatory age checks for some sites, and social media companies now have to attach appropriate age restrictions.
The previous government also said it expected all companies to prevent “access to known child sexual abuse material. Regulator Ofcom say new codes for pre-screening were published in December.
15 and 16. Improve the experience for victims in court, including accelerating police investigations and CPS charging decisions to prevent survivors withdrawing their claims. Jay suggested increasing the three-year time limit to bring a civil claim, too.
This has not been implemented.
17 and 18. Increase support for victims with fully funded services offered by councils and prevent abuse records from being deleted for 75 years.
This has not been implemented.
19. Ban headlocks and arm twists for children in custody.
This has not been implemented.
20. Change Children Act 1989, so if a child is thought to be suffering harm in council care, a court can restrict the council’s power.
This has not been implemented.
Why did Musk start talking about the scandal?
The exact reason behind the X CEO’s interest in the topic is unclear, but it seemed to come to his attention after GB News reported that Jess Phillips rhad ejected Oldham council’s request for a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation.
The minister said such a probe should be held locally.
Musk claimed on X: “The real reason she’s refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Starmer (head of the CPS at the time).”
He then proceeded to post about the topic almost non-stop on his X account, despite being corrected by other users and accused of spreading misinformation.
Why does anyone want another inquiry?
Some of the government’s critics claim Jay’s inquiry was not thorough enough, and that another, shorter one should look into a supposed “racial or cultural motivation” behind the abuse.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said on X: “The time is long overdue for a full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.
“Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots. 2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice.”
She added in PMQs on Wednesday that the public will start to “worry about a cover-up” if Labour continue to resist the calls for another probe.
Reform leader Nigel Farage and Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick also say Jay’s report did not prioritise on-street grooming in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford.
While he did not call for another inquiry, The Times journalist who first reported on the child abuse in 2011, Andrew Norfolk, also noted that the actual cause of grooming gangs is a “critical piece of research” which has not been done.
He said this is the “void into which Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson can shout, spread lies and poison”.
However, Jay herself told the media no further investigation is required.
She said: “We’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions and especially for those victims and survivors who’ve had the courage to come forward, and they clearly want action.
“We have set out what action is required and people should just get on with it. Locally and nationally.”
What happens next?
MPs already voted down the possibility of launching a fresh inquiry on Wednesday night.
Even if the amendment had passed – which was unlikely, as Labour have a majority and its MPs were discouraged from supporting it – the government still would not have been forced to hold a new inquiry.
However the PM spokesperson did tell journalists on Wednesday that, “we are open” if local authorities want to take forward inquiries linked to grooming gangs, adding they would “always listen to what victims want in this case”.
“What we have heard from our engagement with victims and survivors group is they want to see action. That is why we are focused on following up the recommendations of Prof Alexis Jay and taking the actions we need to deliver justice,” the spokesperson added.
It remains to be seen how many of Jay’s recommendations will be implemented.