Man charged over ‘threats’ to Jess Phillips MP after Elon Musk assaults
A man has been charged with sending malicious communications to safeguarding minister Jess Phillips amid Elon Musk criticising the Labour politician.
Jack Bennett, 39, from Devon, is charged with sending malicious communications between April 2024 and January 2025 to three people, including the Birmingham Yardley MP. Bennett, from Seaton, has been bailed to appear before Exeter Magistrates’ Court on February 18.
Keir Starmer earlier today said a “line has been crossed” after Mr Musk made vile comments about Ms Phillips on X/Twitter. The PM warned that the Labour MP had faced threats after the attacks.
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In recent days the world’s richest man made a string of attacks on the UK Government over its handling of the grooming gangs scandal. Mr Musk in particular targeted Ms Phillips, who he said “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
Asked about the tech billionaire’s comments on Monday, the PM said: “Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody else to speak on her behalf, but when the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book, a line has been crossed.
“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies, not on those who are so desperate for attention that they’re prepared to debase themselves and their country.”
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Musk lashed out at Ms Phillips after she wrote to Oldham Council saying it must follow other towns such as Rotherham and Telford and commission its own inquiry into historical abuse of children. The Government faces calls for a new national inquiry from Reform UK and the Conservatives – despite the Tories refusing a request for a public inquiry into events in Oldham while in government.
The Government is against launching another nationwide probe and has said it is working to implement recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay’s inquiry, which concluded in 2022. That inquiry looked into abuse by organised groups following multiple convictions of sexual offences against children across the UK between 2010-2014, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol.
