The decision has sparked outrage,\u00a0with Elon Musk branding it “disgraceful” and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch calling for a long-overdue national inquiry into rape gangs<\/strong>. “2025 must be the year the victims start to get justice,” Badenoch declared.<\/p>\nAt the center of the controversy is Labour\u2019s safeguarding minister\u00a0Jess Phillips<\/strong>, who insisted that the decision to launch an investigation was “for Oldham Council alone.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Jess Phillips<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis comes despite a 2022 report revealing that\u00a0children in Oldham were failed by agencies meant to protect them amid allegations of grooming by \u201cpredominantly Pakistani offenders\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0in council homes, shisha bars, and taxis.<\/p>\nOldham Council\u2019s Labour group previously agreed to support an independent inquiry,\u00a0even writing to Phillips twice to urge the Home Office to back the move<\/strong>. In her response,\u00a0Phillips acknowledged the council\u2019s resolution but maintained that the government should not intervene<\/strong>, leaving the decision solely to local authorities.<\/p>\nMusk, a vocal critic of Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour government, took to X\u00a0 to accuse Phillips of shielding Starmer from scrutiny. Musk pointed to Starmer\u2019s tenure as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013, during which he argued “rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice.<\/strong>” He claimed Phillips\u2019 refusal to investigate Oldham\u2019s abuse cases was an attempt to protect Starmer, suggesting the trail of accountability would lead back to his time at the CPS.<\/p>\n
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