A sequence of erratic social media posts by the billionaire tech mogul has introduced a decades-old youngster intercourse abuse scandal again into the political highlight.
Elon Musk has reignited a political debate within the UK over the crimes of gangs of males who’ve systematically groomed and raped kids in English cities over a number of many years.
In a flurry of posts on his social media platform
He additionally known as Care Minister Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and known as for her to be jailed.
Musk’s newest foray into British political life has sparked outrage amongst Labor leaders, with the prime minister condemning “those that unfold lies and disinformation”, including that they don’t seem to be within the victims however “in themselves”.
It follows Musk’s sudden name for his shut ally Nigel Farage to step down as chief of the far-right Reform UK social gathering, and his assist for activist Tommy Robinson, who’s serving a jail sentence for contempt of court docket.
What is the grooming gang scandal?
The so-called grooming gang scandal refers to a sequence of high-profile instances which revealed that gangs of males, primarily of Pakistani origin, had groomed, drugged and raped women from deprived backgrounds in English cities between the Nineteen Eighties and the early 2010s.
The best-known instances occurred within the northern English cities of Rotherham, Rochdale and Oldham.
A relationship by Professor Alexis Jay in 2014 estimated that round 1,400 kids had been sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, predominantly by males of Pakistani origin.
This report identifies failings by the authorities and the police, and likewise quotes native authority officers describing their “nervousness” in figuring out “the ethnic origins of offenders for worry of being deemed racist”.
In 2016, Jay turned chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and concluded in a 2022 report that such organized abuse was “endemic” throughout England and Wales and set out 20 beneficial actions.
Why did Musk intervene now?
Musk intervened within the debate after it emerged that the conservation minister, Jess Phillips, rejected a name for a government-led investigation into such instances within the city of Oldham, arguing that the native council ought to as a substitute determine to fee an investigation .
Professor Jay and the previous chief prosecutor in control of prosecuting Rotherham perpetrators, Nazir Afzal, have since rejected requires a brand new investigation, saying earlier suggestions should be adopted up.
Victims ‘need motion’ fairly than one other nationwide inquiry, Jay said the BBC.
Opposition figures, together with Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch, have echoed Musk’s requires a nationwide inquiry. Labor figures highlighted the truth that not one of the suggestions made in Professor Jay’s earlier inquiry have been carried out by subsequent Conservative governments.
Musk additionally mentioned that “lots of of 1000’s” of women had been “mercilessly focused.” While it’s unclear what number of victims had been focused by gangs, greater than 7,000 victims and survivors gave proof to the impartial inquiry into youngster sexual abuse which concluded in 2022, and a particular process pressure arrange in 2023 supplied assist to round 4,000 victims.
ANNOUNCEMENTHow is Keir Starmer concerned?
Between 2008 and 2013, the prime minister was head of the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), which oversees prison prosecutions in England and Wales.
Nine months after his appointment, the CPS determined to not prosecute alleged members of a grooming gang in Rochdale, after attorneys suggested the primary sufferer was “unreliable”.
That resolution was later overturned by Nazir Afzal after he was appointed chief prosecutor for the north-west of England two years later in 2011.
Afzal’s efforts noticed 9 males convicted in Rochdale.
ANNOUNCEMENTAlthough the CPS was criticized for its preliminary failure to prosecute, Starmer was by no means charged with any accountability and Afzal praised him for his assist in bringing perpetrators to account.
Afzal is reported to have beforehand mentioned: “Keir was 100% in favor of the choice to publicly admit that we had obtained it fallacious up to now.”
“Keir left in 2013, when the CPS went from being aggressive in coping with sexual abuse instances to having the best conviction fee in our historical past,” Afzal additionally mentioned, as reported by the Guardian and the Financial Times.
Starmer defended his document by mentioning that he had reopened youngster abuse instances that had been closed, that he had launched the primary ever prosecution of a grooming gang and that he had modified CPS tips to make prosecution simpler.
ANNOUNCEMENTProfessor Jay’s 2014 report into the Rotherham case highlights that in October 2013 Starmer revised the CPS steerage on youngster sexual exploitation “to set out a transparent and shared strategy that prosecutors would take to take care of instances of sexual abuse on minors”.
This included the choice to take away behaviors deemed to undermine the trustworthiness of younger victims and beforehand used to dam court docket proceedings, together with how they dressed or behaved, whether or not they used alcohol or medication, and whether or not they complained instantly.
Where else has Musk entered British and European politics?
Musk’s newest feedback observe his latest assist for anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, extra generally referred to as Tommy Robinson, who’s at present serving a jail sentence for contempt of court docket.
The Trump ally just lately surprisingly turned his again on his earlier assist for Nigel Farage, the chief of the far-right Reform UK social gathering, calling for his resignation.
ANNOUNCEMENT“Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” Musk wrote on X.
It follows weeks of stories that Musk was planning a large donation to Reform’s marketing campaign, alleged to be as a lot as $100 million.
This prompted the federal government to evaluation the foundations on marketing campaign finance.
A disagreement has additionally damaged out between Starmer and Musk over the riots that hit the UK final summer time following the homicide of three younger women at a dance studio in Southport. Musk was accused of additional stoking tensions and failing to forestall it from occurring unfold of misinformation about assaults on its X platform.
ANNOUNCEMENTMusk has additionally backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) social gathering forward of Germany’s federal elections in February.
