KEIR Starmer has said the online debate about child sexual exploitation was based on lies, with politicians “jumping on the bandwagon”.
He said threats made against MPs such as Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips meant “in my book, a line has been crossed”.
The Prime Minister accused the Tories of “amplifying what the far-right is saying” on child sexual abuse after falling to act “for 14 long years”.
Responding to questions about a slew of social media posts from Tesla-owner Elon Musk (below), Starmer blamed the “poison of the far-right” for politicians receiving threats.
Without naming Musk, the Prime Minister hit back at the Twitter/X CEO's claims about his record on tackling grooming gangs, saying: "Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves.”
Starmer also criticised Musk’s support for jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, saying; “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 who are trying to get some vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote.”
He added: “What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon, simply to get attention when those politicians sat in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it. Now, so desperate for attention that they’re amplifying what the far-right is saying.”
It comes after the Tories and Reform UK backed Oldham council’s calls for a second national inquiry into the historical abuse of children.
Phillips (below) previously rejected the calls, as the Conservatives had done while in power.
Starmer’s comments represent his strongest comments on Musk’s increasingly frequent attacks so far, having previously tried to avoid being dragged into a bitter row with the tech billionaire, who is a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump.
As director of public prosecutions, Starmer brought in specialist prosecutors for child abuse and sexual exploitation cases to oversee convictions against grooming gangs, and changed guidance to focus on the credibility of allegations rather than whether victims would make good witnesses.
On his social media platform Twitter/X, Musk said Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and called her a “rape genocide apologist”.
Earlier on Monday he suggested the Prime Minister was “complicit in the crimes” of child sex offenders, and in a separate post added: “Prison for Starmer.”
He also accused former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown of having “committed an unforgivable crime against the British people” and “sold those little girls for votes”, over his handling of grooming gangs while in office.
Musk has also appeared to turn on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, also a friend of Trump, saying the Clacton MP "doesn't have what it takes" to lead the party.
