Keir Starmer hits back at Elon Musk over comments on historic sex abuse cases

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British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hit back at Elon Musk over his comments about Britain’s handling of historical sexual assault cases, with French President Emmanuel Macron also expressing concern about the billionaire’s meddling in European politics.

Musk has criticized Starmer and British Protection Minister Jess Phillips in a series of posts on X in recent days, mainly to complain about the failure to hold perpetrators to account.

In a speech in Epsom, Surrey, on Monday, Starmer said that “a line has been crossed”, adding that “those who spread lies and misinformation as widely as possible are not interested in victims – they are interested in victims”. interested in themselves.”

The Prime Minister’s comments came as other European leaders responded to Musk’s escalating social media intrusions into the continent’s politics, with Macron expressing particular concern about the role of the billionaire close to US President-elect Donald Trump.

Starmer said: “We have seen this playbook many times – it sparks intimidation and threats of violence, in the hope that the media will amplify it…. . . When far-right poison leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, a line has been crossed in my book.

Musk, who has posted repeatedly about UK politics since Labor’s election in July, recently described Phillips as a “rape genocide apologist” and an “evil witch.”

He has published dozens of times about a historic scandal involving sexual grooming gangs in northern England.

“Starmer was deeply complicit in mass rape in exchange for votes,” Musk responded on Monday.

He appeared to be referring to the Prime Minister’s previous role in overseeing the UK Crown Prosecution Office when evidence of gangs emerged more than a decade ago.

Later on Monday, Yvette Cooper, Britain’s home secretary, announced several initiatives to tackle child grooming gangs, including longer prison sentences, saying: “The punishment must fit the heinous crime.”

Grooming will be treated as an aggravating factor, making the crime more serious, when judges sentence offenders for specific sexual offenses against children including rape.

Cooper also told the Commons that the government would set up a “new victims and survivors commission” and it would be made mandatory to report abuse through the impending Crime and Policing Bill.

Allegations that Starmer bears some responsibility for failures to bring grooming gangs to justice stem, in particular, from a case in 2009 when the decision was made not to prosecute alleged perpetrators in the town of Rochdale.

Lawyers at the time believed that the victim would not be reliable or credible.

Starmer had been DPP for nine months when the decision was made, but there is no evidence to suggest he was aware of the details of the case at the time.

Starmer said on Monday that as prosecutor for five years, he dealt with gangs directly and reopened various cases, noting: “When I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases ever prosecuted.”

He also criticized those – including Musk – who supported far-right instigator Tommy Robinson, saying he was a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case.

In his comments, Macron indicated his discomfort with Musk’s support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party ahead of the German elections next month.

“If we were told that the owner of one of the largest social media networks in the world would support a new reactionary internationalism [movement] He would directly interfere in the elections, including in Germany. Who would have imagined that? Macron said at a conference of ambassadors on Monday. “This is the world we live in.”

But the German government tried to downplay Malik X’s role in the country’s politics.

“We act as if Mr. Musk’s statements on Twitter could impact a country of 84 million with lies, half-truths or expressions of opinion,” a company spokesperson said Monday. “This is simply not the case.”

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK Conservative Party, said her party would put forward an amendment on Wednesday to the Child Welfare Bill in Parliament calling for a “full national investigation into the rape gang grooming scandal”.

“If the amendment is chosen, I hope MPs from all parties will vote to support the investigation, so we can do the right thing for the victims and end the culture of cover-ups,” she said.

But Starmer accused her of “jumping on the bandwagon” and “amplifying what the far right is saying” about child sexual abuse after failing to act “for 14 long years”.

Labor has criticized the recent Conservative government for not implementing the recommendations of a seven-year review into child sexual abuse in the UK that was reported in 2022.

Earlier on Monday, Musk, who was chosen by Trump to co-lead a US administration of government efficiency, suggested that the US should “liberate the people of Britain” by overthrowing the government.

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the speech was evidence that the UK could not rely on the incoming Trump administration.

He added: “People are tired of Elon Musk meddling in our country’s democracy, when he clearly knows nothing about Britain.”