Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has called Elon Musk’s recent messages on his social media site, X, towards Jess Phillips MP a “disgraceful smear”. Billionaire Musk called for Phillips to be jailed for her response to grooming gangs in the UK and labelled her as a “rape genocide apologist” before targeting Sir Keir Starmer’s record of prosecuting gangs. These tweets followed Phillips’ rejection of a government request for a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
Streeting criticised Musk’s comments, which he deemed ‘ill-judged’, and pointed out that both Phillips and Starmer had contributed significantly to the fight against sexual abuse. While director of public prosecutions, Sir Keir introduced a special prosecutor for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions against grooming gangs, which paired with court reforms aimed at making the process less traumatic for victims. Phillips instructed Oldham Council to launch its local inquiry into historic child sexual abuse in October.
Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is calling for a national public inquiry into the UK’s “rape gangs scandal”. Although criticised as being “not appropriate”, Musk was described by Conservative shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, as being correct in raising the issue and pointing out the existence of organised gangs of predominantly Pakistani heritage men who were grooming and raping young women.
The letters sent by Phillips and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to the Conservatives requesting an inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham will not be granted. Instead, they support an independent review commissioned by Mayor Andy Burnham, which examines historic abuse across Greater Manchester. These findings stressed that abuse must be confronted and challenged everywhere, with no exceptions – whether in care homes, churches, homes, or by grooming gangs
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