Keir Starmer attacks those ‘spreading lies’ over child sex grooming gangs after comments from Elon Musk – UK politics live | Politics

Elon Musk is still attacking the government over the child abuse scandals on X. In an interview on the World at One, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, was asked to respond to one recent message, where Musk said:

Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes.

That’s what the inquiry would show.

Streeting said that he thought Keir Starmer was “brilliant” at dealing with this issue during his Q&A this morning. He said Starmer and Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, were people who devoted their professional lives, before they entered politics, to protecting victims and keeping women and girls safe from violence. Musk should have a “social media detox”, he said.

Echoing what Starmer said this morning (see 11.59am), Streeting said that Tory response to the Musk attack on Phillips had been a mixture of “silent indifference from the more decent Conservatives and, worse still, active complicity from other Conservatives”. Streeting said the “decent Conservative party” that used to operate in the country should be speaking up.

Asked if he thought the government should stop using X (which is something the Guardian, at a corporate level, decided to do in November), Streeting defended the decision to keep using it – but implied that he would be happy if No 10 were to order a boycott. He said:

We want to get our message across, on our terms, to the public where they are. And that is why I’ve been criticised myself over the years and for talking to newspapers or broadcasters that are hostile to the Labour party and centre-left views.

If you don’t set out your own views on your own terms, people don’t hear them on your terms.

On something like a cross-government approach or a Labour party approach, ultimately, I think that’s the decision for the leader of my party and the leader of the government. 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.

The moment he takes a decision otherwise, I would absolutely go along with that.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said the US ambassador should be summoned to the Foreign Office to explain why a Trump ally is calling for the government to be overthrown. Referring to a tweet from Elon Musk this morning (see 9.54am), Davey posted these on social media.

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.

It’s in our national interest to rebuild trade and security ties with our allies in Europe.

In a post on social media, Harry Cole, the Sun’s political editor, claimed that Keir Starmer comments during his Q&A this morning (see 10.39am) meant he was saying “normal Brits” worried about rape gangs were part of the far right.

That’s a fairly extreme interpretation of what Starmer was saying. If you read the quotes in full (see 10.39am and 10.57am), it is clear that by “far right” he was referring to Elon Musk, Tommy Robinson and the sort of people who have been backing their comments about Jess Phillips. To most observers it would have been obvious that he was not applying the term to anyone opposed to child rape.

But the Tories are going with the Harry Cole interpretation. About two hours after Cole posted his message on X, CCHQ released this statement from Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary. Philp said:

It is 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.

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.

Not all the questions about the Starmer Q&A were about Elon Musk. Kate McCann from Times Radio pointed out that, while Starmer was saying there was no need for any more inquiries into child sexual abuse (see 11.15am), he has just ordered a fresh review of social care – even though this is another topic covered by numerous reports over recent years. The final report is not due until 2028. McCann asked if Starmer would bring this date forward, given that he has already said there is an urgent need for reform.

In response, Starmer said a new review was needed because “we’ve got to get it right”. He said:

Social care is such an important issue in its own right, and obviously it’s also linked to the question of what happens in our hospitals, because it’s got a huge impact. We’ve got to get it right, which is why we put Louise Casey in charge of this who’s renowned for coming out with really good, strong recommendations.

And I want to build a consensus. I genuinely want to cross-party consensus, because if this is going to work and make a material difference, it’s got to last different through different parliaments. That will take time to get this right. But we’re determined to do it.

But Starmer said that he did not want to leave all reform until 2028. The Casey review will report in two stages, Starmer pointed out, and he said he wanted to make progress on issues like a fair pay agreement more quickly.

During the Q&A after his speech Jack Elsom from the Sun had a second try at that question asked by Christopher Hope. (See 11.15am.) Was Starmer refusing to hold another inquiry into child abuse cases because he was satisfied there were “no more failings of wider state that need to come to light”.

In his response, Starmer said he thought people do now understand what the problem was. In fact, he specificially changed CPS policy in these cases when was DPP because he feared “warped ideas about community relations” were holding back prosecutions.

Well, I don’t think we should leave any stone unturned, but I think we know what the basic failings were. The reason I brought the first mass prosecution for an Asian grooming gang is precisely because I could see that these warped ideas about community relations were possibly having an impact, because I could precisely see that the myths and stereotypes about the victims were preventing some of the most vulnerable in our society from the protection they needed. That action was taken over a decade ago.

Yes, of course, you’re right to challenge, to say ‘Couldn’t there be something else?’

But the basic problem here is pretty well known. It was pretty obvious. That’s why I did what I did in the Crown Prosecution Service, because I could see what the problem was.

During the Q&A after his speech Keir Starmer was asked if he saw Elon Musk’s comments as a direct attack on him from the Trump administration, and if he would be asking Donald Trump to get Musk to “tone it down” when they met. (Starmer is expected to fly to Washington to see Trump fairly soon after the inauguration.)

In his reply, Starmer said he did not want to “individualise this to Elon Musk, or anyone else”. But then he, in effect, did make this about Kemi Badenoch, because he went on to attack the Conservatives again. He said:

I’m very concerned about where the Tory party is going on this, in this country …

I think only a few months ago it would have been unthinkable for things to be said about Jess Phillips that were said recently [Musk calling her a “rape genocide apologist”] without all political parties, and the leader of the opposition, calling it out in terms.

I genuinely believe that. I don’t think it was that long ago that you would have all expected that reaction. You’d have all been challenging the leader of the opposition, ‘Will you denounce this? This isn’t fair, because it’s put a member of parliament, my member of parliament, at risk.’

That’s not good. That’s why I say a line’s been crossed.

So this isn’t about America or Musk. I’m talking about our politics. I’m talking about the responsibility that our politicians have in calling this out for what it is, and distancing themselves and condemning it.

Because if you’re not stand prepared to stand up as a Tory MP and denounce what’s been said about Jess Phillips, who’s now had threats made to her, then you need to seriously consider while you’re in politics in the first place.

Badenoch, and the Conservative party, have backed calls for an new inquiry into child sexual exploitation, and Badenoch published an article in the Mail on Sunday yesterday explaining why. In a post on X, Musk responded: “Good on Kemi Badenoch!”

Badenoch has not endorsed what Musk said about Phillips on Friday last week. But she has not criticised it publicly either, and yesterday in a post on social media she defended Robert Jenrick after he was accused of making inflammatory comments on race. “We MUST be free to have tough conversations, no matter how difficult that may be to hear,” she said.

Tulip Siddiq, the Treasury minister, has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards over reports that she was given a London flat by a person linked to her aunt, the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Asked about the story at his Q&A, Keir Starmer said:

Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done, and that’s why we brought into being the new code.

It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and, yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening.

Siddiq said she had “done nothing wrong” in her letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial standards (aka the PM’s “ethics adviser”. She said:

In recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family’s links to the former government of Bangladesh.

I am clear that I have done nothing wrong.

However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.

I will obviously ensure you have all the information you need to do this.

As well as being asked to explain the flat, Siddiq has also faced claims, which she has denied, that she is implicated in a corruption scandal being investigated in Bangladesh.

As PA Media reports, Siddiq had been due to join a Treasury delegation heading to China this week, but will now stay in the UK. A source said: “Tulip wants to be the UK so she is available to assist the independent adviser on ministerial standards.”

GB News is more sympathetic to rightwing causes than any other broadcaster and it has been running a lot of stories about calls for an inquiry into the Oldham rape gang cases. Christopher Hope, its political editor, suggested the grooming gangs issue was not fully covered in the final report from the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. He asked Starmer if he could be certain this was not still happening today, and he asked if he was worried that a new inquiry might reveal his failings as DPP. ‘That’s why Elon Musk says, were you complicit in the rape of Britain”. Hope claimed that just going after the far right was not an adequate response.

In response, Starmer said that Hope had covered what he did as DPP when he was a journalist at the Telegraph. He went on:

You looked at my record for five years as I was doing the job. You got access to all of the materials … I’ve set out what I did. I actually changed the system, because I could see some of the things that were going wrong.

Starmer said the victims suffered “sickening abuse” and were not listened to. That is why he changed the way the CPS dealt with these cases. And it was partly why he went into politics, he said.

On the question of this call for an ever increasing number of reviews, there have been a lot of reviews, including localised reviews, including into Oldham – for example, the mayor of Manchester did his review. And the Jay report was intended to look at the different types of exploitation that went on. It was a comprehensive review.

What Professor Jay said was really important there [see 9.44am], because I completely agree. This doesn’t need more consultation, it doesn’t need more research, it just needs action. There have been many, many reviews … frankly, it’s time for action.

The next question came form Robert Peston from ITV News. He said Elon Musk had said Starmer should be in prison. That was libellous. Would Starmer sue?

Starmer did not address the libel question (he won’t sue, because that would be madness), but he again defended his record. He said:

There’s nothing secret about being director of public prosections. Every single case I prosecuted went to court, was looked at by a judge. I have an independent inspectorate, access to every single file of every case, any time he or she wanted. And I was overseen by the attorney general, which for three of the five years was a Tory attorney general.

So … rather than me trying to say any more about what I did when I was in office, you can access this material. You know where it is, you know what facts are …

Once we lose the anchor that truth matters, in the robust debate that we must have, then we are on a very slippery slope.

And when politicians, and I mean politicians who sat in government for many years, are casual about honesty, decency, truth and the rule of law, calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far right, that affects politics because a robust debate can only be based on the true facts.

And that’s why this is actually an important point about our politics, not about what anybody may or may not say on Twitter. That actually isn’t the main issue.

The main issue is, what are politicians here doing to stand up for the things that matter to our democracy?

That’s why I want to call this out, because I think it really matters, and it matters not just to me, not just to the Labour party. It ought to matter, and it used to matter to all political parties, and it’s a sign of where the Tory party have got to that we’re even having this debate.

Beth Rigby, the Sky News political editor, also asks about Elon Musk, and about his attacks on Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister.

Starmer says that he thinks most people are more interested in the NHS “than what’s happening on Twitter”.

But he says he does want to address in detail this issue.

Let me start with this, child sexual exploitation is utterly sickening, utterly sickening.

And for many, many years, too many victims have been completely let down, let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else. And they’ve not been listened to, and they’ve not been heard.

And when I was chief prosecutor for five years, I tackled that head on, because I could see what was happening, and that’s why I reopened cases that have been closed and supposedly finished. I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang in the particular case – it was in Rochdale, but it was the first of its kind …

We changed, or I changed, the whole prosecution approach, because I wanted to challenge, and did challenge the myths and stereotypes that were stopping those victims being heard.

So we changed the entire approach, not without criticism at the time, I might add.

But when I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record.

Now that record is not secret as a public servant, it’s all it’s there for all of you or everybody to see.

I also called for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse. I’ve called for that decade ago. The Tories did nothing about that, for those 10 long years, including when the Jay report came out.

Having defended his record as DPP, Starmer goes on to attack those who have criticised him and Jess Phillips. He does not name Elon Musk, but he is clearly referring to him. Towards the end he also explicitly attacks the Tories, who have joined Musk in calling for an inquiry into the Oldham rape gangs. He says.

Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they’re not interested in victims. They’re interested in themselves.

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. These are people are trying to get some kind of vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote.

And those attacking Jess Phillips, who I’m proud to call a colleague and a friend on protecting victims – Jess Phillips has done 1,000 times more than they’ve even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse throughout her entire career …

We’ve seen this playbook many times, whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it.

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, that in my book [means] 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 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.

So that’s what I say about Jess Phillips, Thank you.

Starmer is now taking questions.

Q: [From Hugh Pym, the BBC’s health editor] By focusing on cutting waiting lists, are you downgrading other health targets. And will A&E lose out?

Starmer says just because the NHS is prioritising waiting lists, that does not mean other areas are being neglected. “We can walk and chew gum,” he says.

Q: What do you think of Elon Musk calling for the tyrannical UK goverment to be overthrown? [See 9.54am.]

Starmer replies simply:

In relation to that, I don’t really have any comment on the particular comment that was made this morning by Musk.