U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday hit back against attacks over his handling of the child grooming gang scandal that has repeatedly rocked the nation, and has seen more scrutiny in the last week fueled by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
"Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and wide as possible, they’re not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves," Starmer said in response to questions from reporters about Musk’s comments, although he did not mention Musk directly.
The U.K. grooming scandal, where it was revealed that gangs of predominantly South Asian or British Pakistani men had exploited and abused children for decades in towns in northern England, resurfaced last week amid fresh calls for a national inquiry.
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Previous reports in towns like Rotherham and Telford had found evidence of horrific crimes against children over decades and that authorities had either suppressed information or had concerns about stoking racism. It is frequently cited as a failure of multiculturalism and the impact of mass immigration.
Musk had slammed the government for its rejection of a call for a new national inquiry into the handling of authorities' actions in Oldham. Home Office Minister Jess Phillips responded to the request in October, saying that any such inquiry should be organized locally.
A 2022 report into Oldham's actions between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but it also found that there was no cover-up despite "legitimate concerns" that the far-right would capitalize on "the high-profile convictions of predominantly Pakistani offenders across the country."
Musk, along with top conservative officials, including Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch, demanded a full inquiry. Musk went further, calling for King Charles III to step in.
"They oppose an inquiry, because it will show that those in power were complicit in the cover-up," he said of the government on X.
Musk had called for the prosecution of Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions at the time the scandal broke, as well as Phillips – who he called a "rape genocide apologist."
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Starmer made reference to those remarks in his answer, as he defended his record as prosecutor, saying he had reopened closed cases and "changed the whole prosecution approach" to the abuse.
"When the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book, a line has been crossed," Starmer said. "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."
He also criticized politicians he said "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."
Musk shot back.
"What an insane thing to say! The real reason is that it would show how Starmer repeatedly ignored the pleas of vast numbers of little girls and their parents, in order to secure political support. Starmer is utterly despicable," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
