UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday responded to attacks over his handling of the childcare gang scandal that has repeatedly rocked the nation and has come under increased scrutiny in the past week fueled by the SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
“Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far as possible are not interested in the victims, they are interested in themselves,” Starmer said in response to reporters’ questions about Musk’s comments, although he did not mention Musk directly. .
The grooming scandal in the UK, where gangs of predominantly South Asian or British Pakistani men were revealed to have exploited and abused children for decades in northern English towns, resurfaced last week amid fresh calls for a national research.
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Previous reports in towns such as Rotherham and Telford had found evidence of horrific crimes against children over decades and that authorities had suppressed information or had concerns about stoking racism. It is often cited as a failure of multiculturalism and the impact of mass immigration.
President-elect Trump and Elon Musk arrive for the launch of a SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Pictures)
Musk had criticized the government for its rejection of a call for a new national inquiry into the authorities’ handling of actions in Oldham. Inside Minister Jess Phillips responded to the request in October, saying any such investigation should be organized locally.
A 2022 report into Oldham’s actions between 2011 and 2014 found that local agencies failed children, but also found there was no cover-up despite “legitimate concerns” that the far right would capitalize on “high-profile convictions.” of predominantly Pakistani criminals across the country.”
Musk, along with senior Conservative officials including Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, demanded a full investigation. Musk went further and asked that King Charles III intervene.
“They oppose an investigation because it will show that those in power were complicit in the cover-up,” he said of the government in X.
Musk had called for the prosecution of Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions at the time the scandal broke, as well as Phillips, whom he called a “rape genocide apologist.”
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech in Surrey, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Picture via AP)
Starmer referenced those comments in his response, while defending his record as a prosecutor, saying he had reopened closed cases and “changed the prosecution’s entire approach” to abuse.
“When far-right venom leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then, in my opinion, a line has been crossed,” Starmer said. “I enjoy the push and pull of politics, the robust debate that we should have, but that should be based on facts and truths, not lies.”
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He also criticized politicians who, he said, “are casual about honesty, decency, truth and the rule of law, and call for investigations because they want to jump on the far-right bandwagon.”
Musk responded.
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“What a crazy thing to say! The real reason is that it would show how Starmer repeatedly ignored the pleas of large numbers of little girls and their parents, to secure political support. “Starmer is absolutely despicable,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
