Ministers urged Elon Musk to get off social media today as brutal clashes with Keir Starmer escalated.
The PM’s Cabinet allies said the American billionaire needs an online ‘detox’, and even hinted at a boycott of his X social media site.
Meanwhile, the spat over Sir Keir’s handling of grooming gangs is at risk of widening after Mr Musk asked followers whether the US should ‘liberate’ Britain from its ‘tyrannical government’.
The Lib Dems have called for Washington’s ambassador to be summoned to explain why one of Donald Trump‘s closest allies is mooting the overthrow of the British government.
Sir Keir mounted a robust defence as he took questions after laying out NHS waiting list plans this morning.
He said ‘child sexual exploitation is utterly sickening’ and victims had been ‘let down’ – but insisted he had tackled the issues ‘head on’ as director of public prosecutions.
The premier accused opposition politicians of ‘amplifying what the far-right is saying’ after falling to act ‘for 14 long years’.
He insisted he would fight the ‘poison’ from extremists, arguing that those who are ‘spreading lies and misinformation.. are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves’.
Sir Keir did not mention Mr Musk by name and said he did not ‘really have any comment’ on the world’s richest man.
‘I think most people are more interested about the NHS… rather than what’s happening on Twitter,’ he said.
Sir Keir said he was making a ‘general point’ and did not want to ‘individualise’ the row to Mr Musk. He suggested that until recently the Tories would have ‘called out’ attacks on Home Office minister Jess Phillips, saying a ‘line had been crossed’ and she had suffered threats.
Keir Starmer is hit back at Elon Musk today in the increasingly bitter spat over his record on grooming gang cases
Health Secretary Wes Streeting (left) urged Mr Musk to have a ‘social media detox’ – and said he would back the PM if he decided to boycott X
The tech billionaire, a key ally of returning US President Donald Trump, has been launching a blizzard of attacks on Sir Keir over the festive period
Mr Musk posted on his X social media site this morning that Sir Keir should be ‘in prison’ and asked followers whether America should ‘liberate’ Britain from its ‘tyrannical government’
The Tesla and Space X boss has been launching a blizzard of attacks on Sir Keir over the festive period.
Mr Musk has claimed the premier was ‘complicit’ in allowing the gangs’ activities to continue unchecked.
This morning he posted on his X social media site that Sir Keir should be in ‘prison’, and continued his torrent of criticism after the press conference.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is due to make a statement to MPs on child sexual exploitation this afternoon as the Commons returns from its Christmas break.
Speaking in Surrey, the PM said he had been responsible for authorising the first prosecution of an Asian grooming gang, and changed the ‘whole approach’ of the CPS.
He stressed that his record in the role was ‘not secret’ and everything was a matter of public record.
Sir Keir added: ‘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.
‘So this Government will get on with the job of protecting victims, including child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting, accelerating the processes. But what I won’t tolerate is this discussion, debate based on lies without calling it out.
‘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.’
Sir Keir also lashed out at people supporting jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, as Mr Musk has.
‘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,’ the PM said.
‘These are people who are trying to get some vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote.
‘Those attacking Jess Phillips, who I am proud to call a colleague and a friend, are not protecting victims. Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they’ve even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse throughout her entire career.’
He went on: ‘We’ve seen this playbook many times, whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged Mr Musk to have a ‘social media detox’ – and said he would back the PM if he decided to boycott X.
He told the BBC’s World at One: ‘I think he should probably have a new year’s resolution for a social media detox.
‘We are spending far too much time worrying about what someone in America has got to say about something they know little about here in the UK.
‘What I do think is shameful is that, whereas we would have seen universal outcry across the political spectrum on this sort of rhetoric and this sort of attack on a good colleague like Jess Phillips … instead we have seen a combination of silent indifference from the more decent Conservatives and, worse still, active complicity from other Conservatives.’
Asked whether the Government should leave X, Mr Streeting said: ‘We want to get our message across on our terms to the public where they are.’
He added: ‘So long as the Prime Minister, the leader of my party, is happy for us to continue posting on X I will continue to do so and the moment he takes a decision otherwise I would absolutely go along with that.’
Meanwhile, Lib Dem Ed Davey said: ‘People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain. It’s time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown.
‘This dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric is further proof that the UK can’t rely on the Trump administration, and it’s in our national interest to rebuild trade and security ties with our allies in Europe.’
Sir Keir has faced questions in recent days over a 2009 decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to drop a major case against an alleged grooming gang in Rochdale.
The chairwoman of a previous inquiry that uncovered wide-ranging failings in how institutions protected children has said she is not seeking a new probe – but urged ministers to implement recommendations from her final report more than two years ago.
‘Our mission is not to call for new inquiries but to advocate for the full implementation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse’s recommendations. A Child Protection Authority is critical to this process,’ said Professor Alexis Jay.
Writing in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, Kemi Badenoch said an inquiry should ‘identify the bodies that failed as well as the individuals who facilitated or ignored these crimes so they can be removed from their roles’.
Nigel Farage also backed an inquiry – and said it was fair for Mr Musk to question what role, if any, Sir Keir had in decisions not to pursue serious allegations in Rochdale in 2009.
Supporters point out that as DPP Sir Keir brought in a national network of specialist prosecutors for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions against grooming gangs and changed Crown Prosecution Service guidance to focus on the credibility of allegations rather than whether victims would make good witnesses.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was ‘disgraceful that Keir Starmer is smearing people who are concerned about rape gangs as jumping on a ‘far right’ bandwagon, rather than facing up to his own record on this and reconsidering his refusal as prime minister to hold a full national inquiry’.
‘As Kemi Badenoch said yesterday, a new inquiry must go beyond previous inquiries and focus specifically on the institutional and political failings that enabled the systematic and barbaric attacks to take place,’ he said.
‘If Keir Starmer can’t see why people across the UK are keen to have these questions answered and proper accountability for the victims of this heinous scandal, it just shows how out of touch he really is.’
Mr Musk also posted on X, which he owns, suggesting that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips ‘deserves to be in prison’ for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham and called her a ‘rape genocide apologist’.
Nigel Farage has also had a falling out with Mr Musk, after speculation about a huge donation to Reform UK
Mr Musk took aim 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.
Labour is now facing calls for a new national inquiry from Reform UK and the Conservatives, the latter of which had refused a request for a public inquiry into events in Oldham while in government.
Sir Keir’s Government is against launching another nationwide probe and has said it is working to implement recommendations from Professor 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.