Chair of child sexual abuse inquiry calls for government to act

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A child protection authority is critical to this process.” open image in gallery Professor Alexis Jay wants a child protection authority to be established Labour has committed to implementing the recommendations of the IICSA’s recommendations, and 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. “Professor Alexis Jay worked for seven years on a comprehensive independent inquiry and continues to work with survivors of these heinous crimes – and this Government is committed to working closely with survivors and expert groups like Act on IICSA.” Her intervention came as Andy Burnham said he would support a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, but only if the government deemed it necessary to launch one. But Mr Burnham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I wouldn’t stand against a further national review if that was deemed necessary.” Opponents of recent calls for a new national inquiry, which have come from Elon Musk, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, have said there has already been one, conducted by Prof Jay, with none of the 20 recommendations having been implemented. “All I can say from here is, for us, we must complete the Greater Manchester review, police investigations are ongoing, I wouldn’t want anything to cut across those, but I wouldn’t stand against a further national review if that was deemed necessary.” It comes after Kemi Badenoch called for a national inquiry into the UK’s “rape gangs scandal”, after home office minister Jess Phillips denied requests to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.