Britain’s Labour government came under pressure to act after Elon Musk reignited a decade-old scandal involving child sexual abuse mainly by men of Pakistani heritage.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans for five government-backed local inquiries into grooming gangs in a clear shift of position on the issue. She said top lawyer Tom Crowther, who led an inquiry in Telford, would help Oldham and four other pilot areas yet to be named, develop their own reviews.

The UK government on Thursday announced a "rapid" national review of the extent of sexual exploitation of children by grooming gangs and several new local inquiries into cases of abuse.The issue was at the centre of a political firestorm earlier this month when a war of words broke out between US tech billionaire Elon Musk and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Conservatives have tabled an amendment proposing an inquiry into grooming gangs, but if the vote passes new laws protecting children will be delayed.

Britain will back new local inquiries into child sexual abuse across the country, the government said on Thursday, after weeks of criticism by U.S. billionaire Elon Musk stirred renewed concern about a decades-old scandal over grooming gangs.