UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer slammed Elon Musk for “cheerleading” and “amplifying the far right” by spreading “lies and misinformation” online about child sexual exploitation gangs in Britain.
Musk provoked fierce criticism after suggesting safeguarding minister Jess Phillips deserved “to be in prison” for refusing calls for a public inquiry into Oldham rape gang allegations. The historic crimes have been subject in the past to local investigations and a state-commissioned probe.
The attacks culminated over the weekend in accusations that Starmer was “complicit in the rape of Britain” and calling Phillips a “rape genocide apologist.” When longtime Trump ally Nigel Farage publicly disagreed with the billionaire’s call for far-right activist Tommy Robinson to be released from prison, Musk called for Farage’s party to replace him, prompting wider backlash from the British right.
Standing at Epsom hospital in Surrey on Monday to outline plans to cut National Health Service (NHS) waiting times, Starmer pivoted his address to the escalating row with Musk and denounced a wave of “intimidation and threats of violence” against against members of his cabinet prompted, he claimed, by Musk’s tweets.
“Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they’re not interested in victims. They’re interested in themselves,” Starmer said. “Those who are cheerleading Tommy Robinson are not interested in justice. They’re supporting a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case, a gang grooming case. These are people trying to
He warned that “when the poison of the far right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, that in my book [means] a line has been crossed.”
Defending his record as a former chief prosecutor, he continued: “When I was chief prosecutor for five years, I tackled that head-on… We changed, or I changed, the whole prosecution approach, because I wanted to challenge, and did challenge, the myths and stereotypes that were stopping those victims being heard.”
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also blasted “Musk interfering with our country’s democracy” – jibing that “he clearly knows nothing about Britain.”
Despite the online furore, Starmer vowed that his government would “get on with the job” while calling out smear campaigns.
“What I won’t tolerate is this discussion based on lies,” he said. “We’ve seen this playbook many times.”
Watch above via BBC News.