Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to respond to Elon Musk’s comments on child exploitation and Labour’s handling of grooming gangs
Birmingham: So, it looks like Sir Keir Starmer is in a bit of hot water. He’s expected to answer some tough questions about Elon Musk’s recent comments on grooming gangs. Musk has been pretty vocal, criticizing the government’s past actions on this issue.
Starmer hasn’t really defended himself yet, which is raising eyebrows. As he heads back to Parliament after the holiday break, he’s likely to get grilled about Musk’s tweets and the calls for a new inquiry into child sexual exploitation.
Interestingly, the chairwoman of a previous inquiry isn’t asking for a new investigation. Instead, she wants the government to actually follow through on the recommendations from her report, which came out over two years ago.
Professor Alexis Jay, who led that inquiry, emphasized that they’re not looking for more inquiries but want to see real action. She believes a Child Protection Authority is essential to make progress.
Musk didn’t hold back, saying Starmer failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice during his time as director of public prosecutions. He even went as far as calling him “complicit in the rape of Britain.” Ouch!
While Starmer was DPP, he did implement some changes to improve how child abuse cases were handled. He set up a network of specialized prosecutors and shifted the focus to the credibility of allegations.
On top of that, Musk took a jab at safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, suggesting she should be in prison for not pushing for a public inquiry into child exploitation in Oldham. He called her a “rape genocide apologist,” which is pretty intense.
Starmer’s Cabinet members have jumped to his defense. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper praised Phillips as a strong advocate for abuse victims, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting slammed Musk’s comments as a “disgraceful smear.”
Streeting pointed out that both Starmer and Phillips have a solid track record of putting away offenders, so they don’t need lectures from anyone, especially not Musk.
He also mentioned that social media platforms could do more to tackle online grooming if Musk is serious about addressing violence against women and girls.
Labour is now facing pressure from other parties, including Reform UK and the Conservatives, for a new national inquiry. Ironically, the Conservatives had previously refused a public inquiry into Oldham when they were in power.
Starmer’s government is against launching another nationwide probe, insisting they’re focused on implementing the recommendations from Jay’s inquiry, which looked into organized abuse cases from 2010 to 2014.
Campaign groups are urging the government to set a timeline for these recommendations and to establish a child protection authority to standardize data collection and enhance support for victims.
