One Labour minister said it was ‘about time we stood up to Musk’ over his comments about the UK
Senior Labour figures have urged Sir Keir Starmer to speak up against Elon Musk following his attacks on minister Jess Phillips.
The tech billionaire has heavily criticised the UK Government in recent days after it was revealed that Phillips formally denied requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation and grooming in Oldham.
Musk posted on X that Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for the decision, alongside numerous posts criticising Starmer for failing to launch an inquiry.
Phillips has received significant abuse on X in the days following the post, which has led many in the Labour Party to urge Starmer to speak out against Musk for his criticisms of the UK.
One Government minister told The i Paper: “I think it’s about time we stood up to Musk.
“He’s not president. He doesn’t make the decisions. He’s got no hold over the UK. His words are causing serious harm.”
They added that the “amount of misinformation from Musk is staggering” and pointed out that Rotherham and Telford both held their own local inquiries into grooming gangs under the last government.
“The decision was made years ago that this was best dealt with at a local level,” they continued.
A backbench Labour MP also praised Phillips as a “brilliant advocate” for victims of abuse, adding that she “doesn’t deserve” the level of backlash she has received.
Labour grandee Harriet Harman branded Musk a “global bully” and suggested that other parties should condemn his comments.
She said: “[The] issue is how Reform and Tories respond. Real litmus test here.”
Starmer has not publicly responded to Musk’s criticisms of Phillips. However, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in comments to the BBC on Sunday morning, described them as a “disgraceful smear.”
He added that Musk’s posts were “ill-judged” as Phillips had “done more than most people ever do” to fight sexual abuse.
“It is a disgraceful smear of a great woman who has spent her life supporting victims of the kind of violence that Elon Musk and others say that they’re against,” he said.
“It’s all very easy to sit there and fire off something in haste and click send when people like Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have done the hard yards of actually locking up wife beaters, rapists and paedophiles.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also defended Phillips, stating had “campaigned tirelessly” on behalf of those that had been failed by institutions.
“Jess Phillips has dedicated her career to tackling sexual violence and abuse and to being a voice for victims and survivors of the most terrible crimes, including child sexual abuse,” she said.
“From setting up the first-ever child sexual exploitation service in the Black Country and supporting survivors in Telford, Jess has been a fearless and formidable advocate for victims and survivors.
“She has worked with whistle-blowers and campaigned tirelessly for justice for those badly let down by endemic institutional failure.”
Musk has frequently used X, the social media platform which he has owned since 2022, the criticise the UK Government in recent months.
Over the past week, he has focused his criticisms on Labour’s failure to launch an inquiry into grooming gangs, as well as calling for far-right figure Tommy Robinson to be released from prison.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
He was found guilty of breaching a court order after screening a documentary that included false claims about a Syrian refugee schoolboy.
Musk shared the same documentary, describing it as “worth watching” and supporting calls to “free Tommy Robinson”.
Musk has also suggested that Starmer failed to prosecute grooming gangs during his time as director of public prosecutions.
In one post on X, he said: “In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects.
“Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013.”
In another post regarding grooming gangs, he said that Starmer “must go, and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain”.
Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have also echoed Musk’s calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said some of Musk’s comments about Ms Phillips were “not appropriate”, but added he was right to raise the issue of grooming gangs.
“I think some of the specific language he used about Jess Phillips is not appropriate, but raising the issue as he has done generally, I think is reasonable because vulnerable young girls were let down by the system,” he told the BBC.
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice defended Musk’s comments, telling LBC: “We live in a world of free speech. Mr Musk is entitled to say what he wants.”
Asked whether he would condemn Musk’s comments, he said: “What I would say is: Why is Jess Phillips rejecting a national inquiry? It’s as simple as that.”
“You seem more worried about a bit of language than exposing the facts of what happened,” he added.