Ex-chief prosecutor rejects Musk’s calls for new child abuse inquiry

Nazir Afzal says a national overarching inquiry into child abuse was published in 2022, but its findings were ignored by the Tory government. Photograph: Steven May/Alamy

A former chief prosecutor and a police whistleblower who uncovered a notorious paedophile gang have hit back at demands from senior Conservatives and the billionaire Elon Musk for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.

Nazir Afzal, the ex-chief prosecutor who was central to successful prosecution of the Rochdale grooming gang, said lengthy and expensive inquiries were not acted upon by the previous Conservative government.