Victims want action, says child abuse investigation chair Alexis Jay

The woman who led a seven-year inquiry into child sexual exploitation has said victims “clearly want action” and the time for a new national inquiry into gangs is past.

Professor Alexis Jay told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that “people should implement their recommendations” and that “local people need to come forward and do the things that have been recommended”.

“We have had a lot of inquiries, consultations and discussions – particularly with victims and survivors who have had the courage to come forward,” he said.

Conservatives have called for a national investigation into grooming gangs after the topic came into the spotlight due to Elon Musk’s social media interference.

The Labor government has rejected calls for a national inquiry, saying it will implement the J Review’s recommendations.

Professor Jay said the controversy over calls for a new national inquiry was a “distraction from the issues” and she was unhappy with the politicization of child sexual abuse “in a very uninformed way”.

When asked if he thought billionaire Musk was aware of what was happening in Oldham, he declined to answer, where the council is denied a public inquiry.

But Professor Jay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I have heard very little in the last few days about the horrific and lifelong effects of child sexual abuse on people.

“I am pleased that the subject matter and the inquiry recommendations are finally being given the attention they deserve but this is certainly not the approach I would have chosen to take, but it has the impact of moving the agenda forward.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said that those who hide information about child sexual abuse or fail to report it may face professional or criminal sanctions Under a new offense to be introduced this year.

The proposal was one of 20 recommendations made by Professor Jay following his seven-year inquiry into child sexual abuse, which ends in 2022.

Maggie Oliver, a former Greater Manchester Police detective who resigned in 2012 over the mishandling of abuse cases in Rochdale, told the BBC that the Home Secretary’s statement on child abuse was “a reflection of what has happened in our country. There was a sharp reaction to international terror at that.” ,

Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has called for a national inquiry, saying “what we have learned recently is the sheer scale of what is happening”.

“For example, J Review looked at six cities. We now suspect there are such grooming gangs in at least 50 cities,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“It is right that we have a full national inquiry so that we can get to the truth, that we can make sure that the victims get justice, that we can try to prevent other vulnerable young girls from being put in this situation again, and “The clearly cowardly officers and councilors who covered this up can also be brought to justice.”

Asked whether the Conservatives had done enough to tackle the issue in government, Jenrick said “more needs to be done”.

He said: “I have long advocated going even further than this and said that if you are convicted of a grooming gang you should be sentenced to a full life sentence, so you may never see the light of day, so you go to prison. Go, you don’t step out and take to the streets of our country in about 10 years, as is happening at the moment.

“This is one of the most horrific racially aggravated crimes in the history of our country. It should be taken more seriously by everyone.”

Henry Zeffman, the BBC’s chief political correspondent, says Musk seized on the grooming gangs scandal and kept talking about it until it was at the top of the political agenda in the UK.

He said there was a “division on this issue” between the Labor government, which has rejected calls for a new public inquiry, and the Conservative opposition, which wants an inquiry.

The government’s position is that it should implement the J Review’s recommendations, Zeffman said.