UK announces new inquiries into 10-year-old child sex grooming scandal after Elon Musk tweet

London – British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Thursday that there would be a raft of new local government-backed inquiries into years-old allegations of child care gangs, weeks after Elon Musk accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failings in the handling of children. crime in a series of tweets. The cases took place a decade ago when Starmer was the country's top prosecutor.

Musk's tweets Starmer personally directedsuggesting that he should be imprisoned and that “America should free the British people from their brutal government,” bringing crime back into the political debate in Britain.

Starmer defended his record and dismissed the criticism as politically motivated.

“Those who spread lies and misinformation as much as possible, do not care about the victims. They are interested in them,” Starmer told reporters after Musk's tweets earlier this month, not talking about the tech mogul and the Internet. who is close to Donald Trump by name.

In 2012, a newspaper report about grooming led to a major government inquiry, which two years later found that at least 1,400 children had been sexually abused in Rotherham, northern England, between 1997 and 2013. Similar exploitation was found in other villages. , leading to a national investigation.

The prosecution service, which was led by Starmer between 2008 and 2013, was criticized in the report for not pursuing Rochdale cases because it deemed the victim “untrustworthy” following an investigation between 2008 and 2009. This decision was rejected by Starmer. the nominee.

“Mr Starmer has tried to improve the treatment of victims of sexual abuse in the criminal justice system during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions,” a 2013 Home Affairs Committee report said.

In response to Musk's tweets and the political pressure they provoked, Starmer vigorously defended his record.

“I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian gang in this case. … it was the first time. We changed, or I changed, the whole way of prosecution, because I wanted to oppose, and I challenged, the myths and the ideas that prevented these victims from being heard,” said Starmer. “When I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases prosecuted on record.”

Starmer initially said further questions about reforming gangs could delay action to tackle child abuse.

“We will be led by the victims, and what we have heard from the victims is that they don't want to see another national investigation,” said Starmers spokesperson to reporters last week.