Musk, a vocal ally of former US President-elect Donald Trump, has spent several days on his social media platform, X, accusing Starmer of neglecting to prosecute men—mostly of South Asian descent—who sexually abused young girls during his tenure as DPP.
Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes.
That’s what the inquiry would show. https://t.co/IVML26ygAg
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 6, 2025
Musk’s criticism intensified with a poll on X asking whether the US should intervene to “liberate” the UK from its “tyrannical government.”
America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 6, 2025
In his response, Starmer forcefully rejected the allegations and strongly defended his tenure as DPP. “When I was chief prosecutor for five years, I tackled that head-on … and that’s why I reopened cases that had been closed and supposedly finished. I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang … I changed the whole prosecution approach,” Starmer said during a press conference, visibly angered by the criticism.
Starmer also condemned the spread of “lies and misinformation,” asserting that those behind such accusations were more interested in advancing their own agendas than supporting victims. “Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves,” he added.
Although Starmer did not directly comment on Musk’s increasingly critical posts—including one where Musk called the UK’s government “tyrannical”—he made it clear that his actions as DPP had confronted the issues head-on, including reopening closed cases related to gang-related sexual abuse.
A 2014 inquiry into the Rotherham grooming scandal found that at least 1,400 children were victims of sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013, some of which occurred during Starmer’s time as DPP.
Starmer also defended his colleague, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who had been targeted by Musk in a separate message. Musk described Phillips as a “rape genocide apologist,” prompting Starmer to hit back.
“Those attacking Jess Phillips, who I am proud to call a colleague and a friend, aren’t protecting victims,” Starmer said, emphasising the importance of standing up to attacks from the far right. “When the poison of the far right leads to serious threats … in my book, a line has been crossed,” he stated.
While Starmer had intended to focus on his plans for tackling NHS waiting lists and reforming Britain’s public health service, Musk’s attacks and the ongoing Conservative calls for an inquiry into the handling of grooming gang cases overshadowed his efforts to steer the conversation back to his government’s priorities.
The controversy also drew attention to Musk’s broader political focus. On Sunday, Musk criticised Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform Party, suggesting he should step down. Musk has also backed the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has been labelled as extremist by German security services due to its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic stances.
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