The chairman of the previous Conservative government said the response to the seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse was "horrible, irrelevant and without substance".

Professor Alexis Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), told MPs then Home Secretary Suella Braverman's written responses to the 20 recommendations "No promises."

Her condemnation came as current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized Keir Starmer for failing to launch another national inquiry into grooming and rape gangs.

The IICSA report, released on 20 October 2022 in the final days of Liz Truss's administration, included a review of child sexual exploitation by organized networks.

Jay told MPs she was "deeply encouraged" by the initial response from then Conservative home secretary Grant Shapps. But after the collapse of the Truss government, Braverman returned to serve as Home Secretary. Jay said the government's written response to the report under Braverman in May 2023 was "terrible".

She told MPs: "This is awful. I can't tell you what it feels like to keep reading the response when we receive the final printed version of the government's response.

“It is irrelevant, irrelevant and makes no commitments. The most commonly used wording among the 20 recommendations was “we accept the need” but no specific commitments were made. All of us (mainly victims and survivors) The reaction was huge disappointment and anger.”

Jay said she had been criticized by the Home Office's special adviser after she wrote to The Times calling the government's response to her inquiry "weak". She told the Home Affairs select committee on Tuesday: "I was on holiday and I got a call or a message saying someone at the Home Office wanted to talk to me.

"What then happened, and I thought it was inappropriate, was that a special counsel came and demanded to know why I wrote to the New York Times and complained. I was very clear that as an independent chairman, I had no responsibility for anything against this man. Act responsibly.”

She described the tone of the conversation as "hostile" and said it led to "a considerable period of silence" at the Home Office until James Cleverly takes over as home secretary in November 2023.

In response, a former adviser to the Home Office said Braverman's team had worked "very hard" to implement a victim redress program in line with Jay's recommendations and said the chairman's criticism was unfair.

Badenock said "farmers" from "sub-communities" in some countries were involved in grooming and rape rings and a national inquiry would seek to identify those in power who failed to act.

The prime minister has faced calls from the Conservatives and Reform Party alike to launch an inquiry after tech billionaire Elon Musk seized on the long-running scandal this month.

Starmer said he planned to continue with recommendations made in previous investigations into child sex abuse, which went beyond the grooming ring led by Jay.

Braverman has been contacted for comment.