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There have been various investigations and reports into cases of child grooming in recent years.

Here, the PA news agency compiled a timeline of events.

– 2010

Five men are given lengthy jail terms after they are found guilty of grooming teenage girls in Rotherham for sex.

The same year, police finally act on sexual grooming in Rochdale – going back years – with a series of arrests.

– 2012

Reports in The Times newspaper claim that details from 200 restricted-access documents showed police and child protection agencies in Rotherham had extensive knowledge of these activities for a decade, yet a string of offences went unprosecuted.

The same year, nine men are convicted over a grooming scandal in Rochdale.

– 2014

Professor Alexis Jay publishes her devastating report on child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The report describes how more than 1,400 children were sexually exploited by gangs of mainly Asian males in the South Yorkshire town over that period.

It is scathing about a culture among police and council officials which ignored the industrial scale of abuse, instead treating the victims as troublesome teenagers.

That same year, then-home secretary Theresa May announces a public inquiry into child abuse – the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

– 2015

IICSA is reconstituted as a statutory inquiry, meaning it can compel witnesses and request any material necessary to investigate failures.

In the same year, a separate report finds hundreds of girls may have been sexually exploited after authorities repeatedly failed to tackle grooming gangs responsible for “indescribably awful” abuse in Oxfordshire over 16 years.

The report concludes that “the association, not of all CSE (child sexual exploitation) but group-based CSE, with mainly Pakistan heritage is undeniable”.

However, the report says there was “no evidence … of any agency not acting when they should have done because of racial sensitivities”.

– 2018

Following a series of trials at Leeds Crown Court, it is reported that a gang of men who embarked on a “campaign of rape and other sexual abuse” against vulnerable teenage girls in Huddersfield have been given lengthy jail sentences.

The pattern of large-scale exploitation of mainly white girls by groups of men of mainly Pakistani heritage uncovered by West Yorkshire Police in Huddersfield mirrors what has happened in a number of other towns including Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford.

– 2020

Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins apologises to the children abused “in plain sight” by the grooming gangs his officers failed to bring to justice.

It comes after a damning report reveals that senior Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers and officials at Manchester City Council, looking after many of the victims in care, were aware but did nothing to act.

It says a police drive called Operation Augusta to tackle street grooming by gangs of Asian males preying on vulnerable teenage girls in Manchester was launched but then abruptly closed down by senior officers in 2004.

– 2022

In June, victims of grooming gangs in Oldham receive official apologies after a major report says police and the local council failed to protect some youngsters from sexual exploitation but concludes there was no official cover-up.

The report looked into the alleged grooming of children in council homes, shisha bars and by taxi drivers in the town and concluded there was no evidence of a cover-up or “widespread” child sex abuse in those settings.

Despite “legitimate concerns” from police and the council in Oldham of the far right capitalising on the issue of grooming by predominantly Pakistani men, the authorities in the town, which suffered race riots in 2001, did not shy away from tackling the issue, the report says.

In July, an inquiry concludes more than 1,000 children were sexually exploited over at least 30 years in Telford amid “shocking” police and council failings.

For decades child sexual exploitation (CSE) “thrived” in the Shropshire town and went “unchecked” because of failures to investigate offenders and protect children amid fears that probes into Asian men would “inflame racial tensions”, the report says.

In October, the seven-year Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) publishes its final report, describing the sexual abuse of children as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake”.

One of the inquiry’s 15 strands looked at what it called “organised networks” and found “extensive failures” in the way child sexual exploitation by criminal gangs is tackled, with police and authorities potentially playing down the scale of abuse over concerns about negative publicity.

It featured harrowing evidence from more than 30 young witnesses across six case study areas – Bristol, Durham, St Helens, Swansea, Tower Hamlets and Warwickshire – and found victims, many of whom had a history of self-harm and running away from home, repeatedly saying that their allegations against their perpetrators had been routinely dismissed by police.

– 2023

Home Secretary Suella Braverman faces criticism after singling out British Pakistani men over concerns about grooming gangs.

Ms Braverman, who alluded to high-profile cases including in Rotherham and Rochdale, pointed to a “predominance of certain ethnic groups – and I say British Pakistani males – who hold cultural values totally at odds with British values, who see women in a demeaned and illegitimate way and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach in terms of the way they behave”.

Her language is rebuked by some campaigners, while the NSPCC emphasises that an excessive focus on race could create new “blind spots”.

– 2024

A report published in January concludes girls were “left at the mercy” of paedophile grooming gangs in Rochdale for years because of failings by senior police and council bosses.

The damning 173-page review covers 2004 to 2013 and sets out multiple failed investigations by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and apparent local authority indifference to the plight of hundreds of youngsters, mainly white girls from poor backgrounds, all identified as potential victims of abuse in Rochdale by Asian men.

A multi-million pound seven-year inquiry described child sexual abuse as an “epidemic” in England and Wales.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) looked at institutional failings and found there were tens of thousands of victims across the two nations when its final report was published in October 2022.

Laws compelling people in positions of trust to report child sexual abuse and a national compensation scheme for victims failed by the state and other institutions were among a raft of recommendations.

It also called on the former Conservative government to hire a cabinet-level children’s minister and establish a child protection authority in its 458-page report, which brought together its overall findings, as it urged politicians to act “promptly”.

When asked at the time how likely it was the changes recommended would be adopted, inquiry chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay told a press conference: “We don’t have the power to force the government to do it, but they should do it and need to do it.”

In January last year, some 15 months on, she vented her frustration that action had not yet been taken and repeated calls for the recommendations to be implemented – demands she reiterated again on Monday.

Resisting calls for another review specifically into grooming gangs, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said IICSA’s work had been extensive and blamed the previous government for failing to bring in the recommendations, adding that now was the time for “action”.

The £186.6 million inquiry, set up in 2015, looked at 15 areas scrutinising institutional responses to child sexual abuse – including grooming gangs, investigations into abuse in Westminster and the church – and more than 7,000 victims took part.

But the inquiry had to survive a number of early blows with resignations and blunders initially throwing the future of the inquiry into doubt.

Some 325 days of public hearings saw testimony from 725 witnesses – including three former prime ministers, an ex-director general of MI5, victims, senior police officers and church leaders – while 2.5 million pages of evidence were processed and scores of reports published with 87 recommendations already made as a result.

In an earlier damning report, the inquiry found there were “extensive failures” in the way child sexual exploitation by criminal gangs was tackled, with police and authorities potentially downplaying the scale of abuse over concerns about negative publicity.

According to the February 2022 findings, which looked specifically at grooming gangs, child victims – some of whom reported being raped, abused, and in one case forced to perform sex acts on a group of 23 men while held at gunpoint – were often blamed by authorities for the ordeals they suffered while some were even slapped with criminal records for offences closely linked to their sexual exploitation.

The Conservatives have accused the Prime Minister of “smearing people who are concerned about rape gangs” and refusing to “face up to his own record” following his comments on Monday.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “It is disgraceful that Keir Starmer is smearing people who are concerned about rape gangs as jumping on a ‘far right’ bandwagon, rather than facing up to his own record on this and reconsidering his refusal as Prime Minister to hold a full national inquiry.

“As Kemi Badenoch said yesterday, a new inquiry must go beyond previous inquiries and focus specifically on the institutional and political failings that enabled the systematic and barbaric attacks to take place.

“If Keir Starmer can’t see why people across the UK are keen to have these questions answered and proper accountability for the victims of this heinous scandal, it just shows how out of touch he really is.

“We have heard reports from a former Labour MP that he was instructed by the then Parliamentary Labour Party Chair to avoid referring to child sex abuse allegations and the background of the perpetrators. I call on Keir Starmer to apologise for this on behalf of the Labour Party.”

The former MP, Simon Danczuk, has recently claimed then-parliamentary party chair Tony Lloyd warned him not to mention the background of members of grooming gangs. Mr Lloyd died in January 2024.

Continuing his attacks on the Prime Minister, Elon Musk posted on X: “Starmer w as deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes.

“That’s what the inquiry would show.”

Sharing a video on his X account, Mr Musk referenced a question from GB News to the PM this morning about if he was worried any inquiry would expose failings when he was Director of Public Prosecutions.

The GB news video ran with the caption: “Are you afraid it might expose failings during your role as DPP?’

“Christopher Hope grills Keir Starmer on his ‘failure’ to order a public national inquiry into the grooming gang scandal.”

Writing above the video, Mr Musk wrote: “Real answer is yes.”

He also added: “British legal system is not serving its people.”

Mr Starmer denied there was a need for a national inquiry and said people attacking the Government and his colleagues over the abuse scandal were “desperate for attention”.

Sir Keir Starmer slammed Elon Musk for pushing “lies and misinformation” as the row over grooming gangs intensified.

The Prime Minister finally responded to the Tesla chief’s repeated attacks on the UK, hinting the tech tycoon and opposition politicians were “desperate for attention”.

Addressing a question from GB News about why the Government was not holding a national inquiry, Sir Keir said: “The victims here suffered terrible abuse, unthinkable, unspeakable, genuinely sickening abuse, and then they weren’t listened to, and that has to be taken seriously, we have to do everything we possibly can, to make sure that never happens again, that why I made the changes within criminal justice, among the reasons I came into politics, because I felt it couldn’t all be done within the criminal justice sphere alone, it had to be done more broadly.

“On the question of this call for an ever-increasing number of reviews, there have been a lot of reviews, including localised reviews, including into Oldham, for example… and the Jay Report was intended to look at the different types of exploitation that went on, it was a comprehensive review, but what Professor Jay said was really important, because I completely agree, which was this doesn’t need more consultation, it doesn’t need more research, it just needs action.”

Asked by ITV’s Robert Peston about Elon Musk’s post saying he should go to jail, the PM responded Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “slippery slope” if truth no longer mattered in political debate.

He said: “It is something about the nature of our politics, because once we lose the anchor that truth matters – in the robust debate we must have – then we are on a very slippery slope.

“When politicians – and I mean politicians – who sat in government for many years are casual about honesty, decency, truth and the rule of law, calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far right, then that affects politics because a robust debate can only be based on the true facts.

“This is actually an important point about our politics, not what about what anybody may or may not say on Twitter.”

Responding to a question from Sky’s Beth Rigby on Elon Musk’s attacks on his colleague Jess Phillips, Sir Keir appeared to come out fighting.

He said: “On the question of Elon Musk, look, I think most people are more interested in what’s going to happen to the NHS, frankly, than what’s happening on Twitter, but you asked me a really important question, that’s been in the news for the last few days, I am going to, with permission answer it quite fully.

“Let me start with this, child sexual exploitation is utterly sickening and for many, many years too many victims have been completely let down, let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else, and they’ve not been listened to and they’ve not been heard.

“When I was Chief Prosecutor for five years I tackled that head on because I could see what was happening, that’s why I had reopened cases that have been closed, that had supposedly finished, I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang in the particular case that was in Rochdale, the first of its kind, for many that then followed that format.

“We changed, or I changed, the whole prosecution approach because I wanted to challenge, and did challenge, the myths and stereotypes that were stopping those victims being heard, so we changed the entire approach, not without criticism at the time, I might add, when I left office we had the highest number of child sex abuse cases being prosecuted on record.

“Now that record is not secret, it’s there for everybody, for all of you to see, …. those that spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in the victims they’re interested in themselves, those who are cheerleading Tommy Robinson, are not interested in justice

“They’re supporting a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case, a gang grooming case, these are people who are trying to get some kind of vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote.

“And those attacking Jess Phillips, who I am proud to call a colleague, and a friend, are not protecting victims, Jess Phllips has done a thousands times more than they’ve even dreamt of doing when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse.

“Just as I took on the criminal justice system, I am prepared to call out this for what it is, we’ve seen this playbook many times, whipping up, intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it.

“Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody else to speak on her behalf, but when the poison of the far right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book a line has been crossed.

“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and proof, not on lies, not on those who are so desperate for attention, that they are prepared to debase themselves and their country… what I won’t tolerate is this discussion, debate, based on lies, without calling it out, what I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon.”

Replying to a question from the BBC at a press conference when asked about Elon Musk’s X tweet, Sir Keir said: “I don’t really have any comment on the particular comment that was made by Musk, thank you.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said there is “a case for a relentless focus” to tackle grooming and child abuse.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “nobody has turned away” from the issue and there has been new major police investigations which have led to arrests, charges and convictions.

He said that “as a result, perpetrators have been removed from the street – so this is the work that we’re doing, and our review is ongoing”.

He added: “All I can say from here is, for us, we must complete the Greater Manchester review.

“The police investigations are ongoing. I wouldn’t want anything to cut across those police investigations, but I wouldn’t stand against a further national review if that was deemed necessary.”

Writing on X, the billionaire owner of the site, Elon Musk, wrote: “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.”

He asked his 210.9million followers if they thought the answer should be ‘yes’, or ‘no’.

At the time of writing, 67% of 320,000 votes, had responded yes.

Posting on X today, the Prime Minister wrote: “We inherited a broken NHS, with millions of people languishing on waiting lists. Their lives on hold.

“My government is delivering our Plan for Change. Our reforms to elective recovery will end backlogs and provide millions more appointments, making our NHS fit for the future.”

The former head of a national inquiry into child sexual abuse has warned against “politicising” the issue, as she urged the Government to act on the “full implementation” of reforms set out in her 2022 report.

Professor Alexis Jay distanced herself from calls in Westminster for a new independent review and said instead the introduction of measures which she recommended two years ago was “critical”.

Labour is now under pressure to launch a fresh probe into child sexual abuse from Reform UK and the Conservatives. The latter refused a request for a public inquiry into events in Oldham while in government.

Prof Jay said: “Our mission is not to call for new inquiries but to advocate for the full implementation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse’s recommendations. A child protection authority is critical to this process.”

Campaign group Act on IICSA, which is chaired by Prof Jay, said in an accompanying statement: “We urge the Government to provide a clear timeline to deliver on these commitments.

“Politicising the issue of sexual violence fails to acknowledge its lifelong impact and hinders the implementation of vital and urgent overhaul to our systems required.”

The Government said it was working “at pace” to deliver the reforms set out in the 2022 review, which found abuse was “endemic” across society in England and Wales.

It comes as the Prime Minister is expected to respond on Monday to Elon Musk’s flurry of attacks on his record in tackling historical grooming gang cases as director of public prosecutions (DPP).

Sir Keir Starmer has so far resisted speaking about the slew of online posts by the tech billionaire, who is a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, which included calling him “complicit in the rape of Britain”.

Sir Keir Starmer was touring a hospital today with Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

The PM is still yet to respond directly to Mr Musk’s barrage of attacks on the government over the weekend.

Health minister Karin Smyth said the Government is committed to implementing the recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay’s report on child sexual abuse.

Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether there will be a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, she said: “We’ve had the Alexis Jay inquiry, which, as as you know, took seven years, cost millions of pounds, and those 20 recommendations that she made were not implemented by the last government.

“So our approach has been to take those recommendations… we are committed to implementing those and working across Government.

“It is difficult to make sure that that happens, but we have the great leadership and experience of both Keir Starmer making sure that happens, and my colleague, Jess Phillips, and others who’ve got direct experience of making sure that these evil perpetrators are brought to justice and that victims are supported.

“So we want to support those people to have their voices heard and to make sure that the lessons are learned and those recommendations are implemented.”

She added: “I expect that the Prime Minister and others will be asked about that further.

“But it’s a big report, seven years’ worth of work. We need to get on with implementing those recommendations.

“Alexis Jay did such great work with victims to make sure their voices were heard in that report.

“They deserve that their voice is being heard, and they deserve those recommendations to be implemented, and that’s the work that we’re getting on with.”

Good morning and welcome to our LIVE blog on the political furore surrounding Elon Musk and British politics.

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