“We couldn’t just leave it” is how one senior figure in government put it to me.
In other words, the political reality was that demonstrable action was essential: ministers realised they had to act because for weeks now, there had been a loud and very angry public argument about child sexual exploitation.
The biggest catalyst of anger is a smothering sense of inertia – a collective sense of a state failure to confront monstrous crimes, deliver justice and prevent it continuing to happen.
These were the propellants for the blaze of rage fanned by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, via his social media platform X, demanding a national public inquiry.
The Conservatives, Reform UK and others made the same argument and the government found itself buffeted around by the noise of the outrage.
And while the government’s political opponents made their cases the most bluntly, there were voices within Labour also publicly calling for its response to go further, such as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, saying there should be a “limited” national inquiry.
The announcement from Home Secretary Yvette Cooper does not amount to setting up a national public inquiry, but it is a clear nod to the demands of those who want one.
Ministers hope that it will at least dampen, if not extinguish, those accusations of a cover-up, while being conscious that there are prominent voices – not least the chair of the previous independent inquiry, Prof Alexis Jay – who argue that another one would be counterproductive.
Prof Jay’s inquiry heard the testimony of 7,000 people and she has argued the focus must now be on action, on delivering changes.
There are many remaining questions about the government’s new approach.
Here are two for a start:
- Which towns will be selected alongside Oldham to develop their own reviews?
- How might the scope and magnitude of what the government does shift once the three-month national audit is done?
In the last few weeks, plenty of critics have said this whole row has amounted to grubbily politicising the victims of the most vile abuse.
And yes, there has been some opportunism in the campaigning.
But it is also true that the explosion of prominence of this issue has compelled a speedier response from the government than we would otherwise have seen.
And a final thought.
If you were looking for an illustration of how unorthodox, even absurd, politics in 2025 has become, one person in government texted me with a hint of surprise and a link to a social media post earlier.
Elon Musk had given a cautious welcome to the home secretary’s announcement on X.
Yes, how this announcement went down with a Pacific Coast billionaire thousands of miles away matters.
You bet it does, after the megaphone he has provided for this debate in recent weeks.
