Ministers tell Elon Musk to stay off social media, X hints at boycotting Starmer grooming gang attack, while MPs call for US ambassador to be summoned for threatening to overthrow UK government

Ministers urged Elon Musk to take a break from social media today as his brutal clash with Keir Starmer escalates.

Sources in the prime minister’s cabinet said the American billionaire needed an online “detox” and even suggested a boycott of his social media site X.

Meanwhile, the spat over Sir Keir’s handling of grooming gangs risks escalating further after Mr Musk asked his followers whether the US should “liberate” Britain from its “tyrannical government”. There is.

Liberal Democrats have called for the ambassador to Washington to be summoned to explain why one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies is discussing overthrowing the British government.

Sir Keir issued a staunch defense this morning when responding to questions after setting out his NHS waiting list plans.

“Child sexual exploitation is absolutely disgusting” and victims have been “let down”, he said, but insisted he had tackled the issue “head on” as director of public prosecutions.

The prime minister accused opposition politicians of “amplifying far-right rhetoric” after “14 long years” of inaction.

He vowed to fight the “toxicity” of extremists, arguing that “those spreading lies and misinformation are not interested in the victims, they are interested in themselves.”

Sir Keir said he was only making a “general point” and did not intend to “personalize” the debate to Mr Musk. He suggested that not too long ago the Conservative Party had “called for” an attack on Home Secretary Jess Phillips and that she had been threatened for “crossing the line”.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch complained that the Prime Minister was using “smear tactics” and said there should be “soul searching” into how such scandals came about. I swiped.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss has launched a ferocious attack on Sir Keir over the festive period.

Mr Musk claimed the prime minister was “complicit” in allowing gang activity to continue unchecked.

This morning he posted on his social media site X that Sir Keir should be in “jail” and continued his harsh criticism after the press conference.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will make a statement to MPs on child sexual exploitation this afternoon when the House of Commons returns from its Christmas break.

Speaking in Surrey, the Prime Minister was responsible for approving the first prosecution of an Asian grooming gang, which he said had changed the CPS’s “whole approach”.

He stressed that his record in the role is “not a secret” and is all a matter of public record.

Sir Keir added: “Jess Phillips doesn’t need me or anyone else to speak on her behalf, but when far-right venom posed a serious threat to Jess Phillips and others, my hon. “Then you have crossed the line,” he added.

“I enjoy the heated debates in politics and the heated debates that we have to have, but it’s not a lie, it’s not about people trying to put themselves down in a desperate bid for attention, it’s about the facts. It has to be based on truth” and their country.

“So the government will do the work of protecting victims of child sexual abuse, including mandatory reporting and speeding up the process.” But what I cannot accept is this debate, the lack of voices. This is an argument based on lies.

“What I can’t tolerate is politicians who have been in government for 14 years, tweeting and talking but doing nothing, and then jumping on a bandwagon just to get attention. Now. , they are desperate for attention and amplifying far-right advocacy.”

Like Mr Musk, Sir Keir also slammed those who support jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

“The people who are cheerleading Tommy Robinson are not interested in justice. They are supporting a man who went to prison for a grooming case, a gang grooming case that almost destroyed him,” the Prime Minister said. said.

“These people are trying to get some thrill out of the street violence that people like Tommy Robinson encourage.

“Those attacking Jess Phillips, a colleague and friend of whom I am proud, are not protecting victims. Jess Phillips has spent her entire career protecting victims of sexual abuse. We have accomplished thousands of times more than they could have ever dreamed of.”

He continued: “We’ve seen this strategy time and time again of intimidation and threats of violence in the hopes that the media will amplify it.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged Musk to “detox from social media” and said he would support him if he decided to boycott X.

He told BBC’s World at One:

“We spend too much time worrying about what someone in America will say about something we know very little about here in the UK.

“What I think is shameful is that there should have been a universal outcry across the political spectrum against this kind of rhetoric and this kind of attack on good colleagues like Jess Phillips. But what we’ve seen instead is a combination of public silence, indifference, and, worse, active complicity by more decent conservatives and, worse, other conservatives.

Asked whether the government should leave X, Mr Streeting said: “We want to take our message to the people where they are, on our terms.”

He added: “As long as the Prime Minister, the leader of our party, is happy for me to continue posting in the XI, I will continue to do so, and the moment the Prime Minister makes a decision, otherwise I will absolutely abide by it. Dew,” he added.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Ed Davey said: “People are tired of Elon Musk, who clearly knows nothing about Britain, interfering with our democracy.” It’s time to call the US ambassador and ask him why he is suggesting that the next US official should overthrow the British government.

“This dangerous and irresponsible statement is further evidence that the UK cannot rely on the Trump administration and it is in our national interest to rebuild our trade and security relationships with our European allies.”

Ms Badenoch said: “Starmer has been applying Labor’s smear tactics for 20 years and believes they are still effective today.”

“He is a man from the past who has no answers to today’s problems, let alone tomorrow’s.

“The possibility of such a huge scandal should encourage those of us who care about it to do some soul-searching, rather than ranting about being ‘far-right.'”

Lord Keir has faced questions in recent days over the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision in 2009 to drop a major case against Rochdale grooming gang suspects.

The chair of the previous inquiry, which revealed widespread shortcomings in the way children are protected in institutions, said he was not calling for a new inquiry, but urged ministers to implement the recommendations of the final report more than two years ago. did.

“Our mission is not to call for a new investigation, but to advocate for the full implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Child protection authorities are essential to this process.” Alexis Jay the professor said.

Writing in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Badenoch said the investigation should “identify failing groups as well as individuals who facilitated or ignored these crimes so that they can be removed from their roles”. .

Nigel Farage has also backed the investigation, and Mr Musk is right to ask what role, if any, did Sir Keir play in the decision not to pursue serious charges in Rochdale in 2009? He said that.

Supporters say the Democratic Progressive Party’s Sir Keir will introduce a national network of specialist child abuse and sexual exploitation prosecutors to oversee convictions against grooming gangs, rather than whether victims make good witnesses. It points out that the Crown Prosecution Service has changed its guidelines to focus on the credibility of the charges.

Shadow home secretary Chris Phillip has said Keir Starmer has jumped on the “far-right” bandwagon of people concerned about rape gangs without facing up to his own record on the matter or reconsidering his refusal to serve as prime minister. He said it was “shameful” that people were slandering the country. Conduct a complete national investigation. ”

“As Kemi Badenoch said yesterday, the new inquiry must go beyond previous investigations and focus specifically on the institutional and political failings that enabled the execution of this systematic and barbaric attack.” he said.

“If Mr Keir Starmer cannot understand why people across the UK want these questions answered and proper accountability for the victims of this heinous scandal, then he shows how out of touch he is with reality. Just show it.”

Mr Musk also posted on his site X suggesting that Protection Secretary Jess Phillips “deserves to be jailed” for refusing a request for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. He called her a “rape genocide apologist.” ‘.

Mr Musk targeted Mr Phillips after he wrote to Oldham Council saying it needed to follow other towns such as Rotherham and Telford and commission an independent inquiry into historic child abuse.

Labor now faces calls for a new national inquiry from Reform UK and the Conservative Party, which rejected calls for a public inquiry into events in Oldham during its time in government.

Sir Keir’s government has opposed launching a new national inquiry and said it was working to implement the recommendations from the Professor Jay inquiry, which concluded in 2022.

The investigation investigated abuse by organized groups following multiple convictions for child sex offenses across the UK between 2010 and 2014, including Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol. was investigated.