Keir Starmer has received a boost in his grooming gangs row with Elon Musk after the head of the national child sex abuse inquiry backed the Prime Minister.

Professor Alexis Jay backed Sir Keir by saying there is no need for a new national investigation into the issue.

In a pointed intervention the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) said those ‘whipping up’ the current furore do not have the interests of victims at heart. Instead of demanding a new inquiry they should ‘step up to the mark’ and implement measures already recommended to tackle the problem.

In her first comments since Musk, backed by the Tories, launched a ferocious attack on Starmer, Prof Jay told the BBC: “I have heard very little in the public discourse that has taken place in the last few days – if you can dignify it with that description – that has mentioned children and the appalling and lifelong effects that child sexual abuse can have on people.”

Prof Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that concluded in 2022, and led a separate inquiry into the Rotherham grooming gangs scandal, said a new national inquiry could even slow down changes already ordered to protect the young.

Asked if those ‘whipping up’ the furite were not focussing on victims Prof Jay replied: “Mainly that is the case from what I have heard of the debate.”

After days of calls for a fresh national inquiry, fuelled primarily by Musk, Prof Jay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday: “We have learned a lot from those reviews that have already been undertaken. Locally people need to step up to the mark and do the things that have been recommended.

“I think that the time has passed for more inquiries. We’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions and especially for those victims and survivors who’ve had the courage to come forward, and they clearly want action.

“We have set out what action is required and people should just get on with it. Locally and nationally.”

She also said the row over calls for a new national inquiry into child sexual abuse is “distracting from the issues”.

Failed Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick, however, has stood by his party’s demand for a new national inquiry.

He also defended his comment that the grooming gangs problem is linked to immigrants from Pakistan who had an ‘alien culture with medieval attitudes.’

Mr Jenrick told the BBC: “We know from the Jay report that British Pakistani men were over represented as members of these gangs. Many selected their victims because they were white and viewed them as worthless as a result.”

Mr Jenrick denied the Conservatives had failed to address the issue in government and said: “We need to make sure not a single vulnerable girl is facing torture or rape.”

Much of the debate has been dominated by a war of words between Mr Musk and Sir Keir Starmer, with the prime minister finally hitting back on Monday to accuse the billionaire of “crossing a line”.

Mr Musk has dubbed safeguarding minister Jess Philliips a “rape genocide apologist” for rejecting calls for a new inquiry into grooming gangs, while he has called for her and Sir Keir to be jailed.

On Monday Sir Keir came out fighting, accusing Mr Musk and right-wing populists of spreading lies about child abuse grooming gangs.

“Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and wide as possible are not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves,” he said. “They are cheerleading Tommy Robinson, a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case, a gang grooming case.”

Prof Jay declined to answer when asked whether she felt Mr Musk knew what was going on in Oldham, where the council has been refused a public inquiry, but said: “I have heard very little in the last few days about the appalling and lifelong effects that child sexual abuse can have on people.”

“I am pleased that the subject matter and the inquiry recommendations are finally getting the attention they deserve but this is definitely not the way I would have chosen for it to happen, but it has had the effect of moving on the agenda,” she said.

Yvette Cooper on Monday announced that professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they do not report child sexual abuse, a key recommendation from the IICSA.

Prof Jay agreed the plans for new legislation introduced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday had happened quicker than it might otherwise have done.

“It (the row) may well have given it some kind of impetus to move forward,” she said.

Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones on Tuesday said Labour is working “at pace” to implement all the recommendations.