Keir Starmer hits back at Elon Musk’s ‘lies’ about handling of child sex abuse scandal

London
CNN
—

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has criticized those “spreading lies and misinformation” about child sex grooming gangs in the UK, in response to an online storm whipped up by Elon Musk.

“Those who spread lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible — they’re not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves,” Starmer told reporters Monday.

For days, Musk – the world’s richest man and the owner of X – has used his social media platform to elaborate on a years-long scandal of historic child sexual abuse in parts of England.

In a post, Musk called on King Charles III to dissolve parliament and order new elections in the UK. In another, he called for Starmer’s protection minister, Jess Philips, to be jailed, calling her “pure evil” and “an evil creature.” On Monday, he also said Starmer should go to jail.

“We’ve seen this playbook many times, where it’s whipped up by intimidation and threats of violence, hoping the media will amplify it,” Starmer said.

“When the venom of the far right leads to serious threats against Jess Phillips and others, then a line in my book has been crossed,” he added.

Starmer said he enjoys the “cut-and-thrust of politics” but said these debates must be “based on facts and truth, not on lies.”

He also criticized conservative politicians – some of whom were in government during the care scandal – for “jumping on the bandwagon” and being “so desperate for attention that they are prepared to degrade themselves and their country.”

Musk has accused Starmer of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” for failing to crack down on grooming gangs while he was Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Starmer staunchly defended his record as head of the DPP on Monday, saying he changed “the whole approach” that had prevented victims from being heard and had “the highest number of child sexual abuse cases prosecuted on record. ”

In a 2014 reportit was revealed that around 1,400 children had been abused by gangs of men in the northern English city of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. The far right has long exploited the scandal, pointing to the South Asian ethnicity of the majority of the gangs’ perpetrators.

Starmer’s government recently rejected a national inquiry into the gangs, citing a number of existing inquiries into the issue and a 2022 reportthe results of which are still being implemented.

Following his success in helping to re-elect Donald Trump in the US, Musk has increasingly inserted himself into the political discourse of other countries.

Last month, Musk endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of federal elections due in February. In addition to a series of social media posts, Musk wrote a weekend op-ed for a major German newspaper explaining his support for the party, which has been accused of reviving Nazi-era ideology and slogans.

In response, the German government accused Musk of “trying to influence” the election. Asked how to respond to Musk’s post, Olaf Scholz, the embattled German chancellor, told German media: “Don’t feed the troll.”

Musk has also insisted on calling for new elections in the UK, despite the last election being held just six months ago. He has backed the populist Reform UK party and on Sunday called on its leader Nigel Farage to resign, saying he “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead.

While Musk did not immediately endorse another candidate, he has previously pushed for the release of Tommy Robinson, a jailed far-right agitator. Robinson has previously led far-right parties in Britain and has a burgeoning social media following.

On Monday, Starmer hit out at “cheerleading” Robinson, who was jailed for 18 months in October after he admitted being in contempt of court by repeating false allegations about a Syrian refugee.

“They’re supporting a man who went to prison for almost collapsing a welfare case,” Starmer said of Robinson’s supporters. He said this showed that “they are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves.”

Other European leaders have grown increasingly concerned about Musk’s meddling in other countries’ politics. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store called this a “worrying” development on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed disbelief at Musk’s behavior.

“If we had been told that the owner of the largest social media network would support an international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections, including Germany, who would have believed it? This is the world we live in , and in which we must conduct diplomacy,” Macron told French ambassadors in Paris on Monday.