UK interior minister Yvette Cooper didn't put it that way, but her announcements on Thursday, January 16, in the House of Commons sounded like a U-turn from the Starmer government following Elon Musk's recent attacks. The Tesla and SpaceX boss had called for a national inquiry into the gangs of rapists who have operated in dozens of towns in central and northern England since the early 2000s, after three weeks ago discovering this scandal long chronicled by the British media.

The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, initially rebuffed her request, explaining that several inquiries had already been held at local level, that a national public inquiry would take years and would not serve the interests of the thousands of victims, who above all needed action.

However, Cooper confirmed on Thursday the launch of a rapid audit at national level into rape gangs and a budget of £5 million (5.92 million euros) to help fund new local investigations. The national inquiry will only last three months: It will probably be mainly a compilation of the various actions already carried out on these scandals, since in the UK, public inquiries proper involve calling in dozens of victims and drag on for years.

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