British prime minister Keir Starmer has hit back at Elon Musk, attacking him for “lies and misinformation” that he said the technology mogul has seemingly spread about a top U.K. minister.
Musk has in recent months aligned himself with the right-leaning politics of Donald Trump, Reform U.K.’s Nigel Farage (though he has since rescinded his support for the controversial party leader), and Germany’s far-right AfD party.
Recently, the multi-billionaire has been spreading conspiracy theories on social media site X, which he owns, demanding Jess Phillips, one of Starmer’s safeguarding ministers, be imprisoned and calling her a “rape genocide apologist”. The SpaceX founder also took aim at Starmer for his failure to prosecute child grooming gangs while serving as director of public prosecutions from 2008-2013.
Starmer was asked about Musk’s behavior on Monday, though did not mention him by name. “Jess [Phillips] does not need me or anyone else to speak on her behalf but 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.”
“I’m prepared to call this out for what it is,” continued Starmer, who has been under pressure to respond. “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.” He said that others’ recent obsession with the child grooming gangs is nothing but “whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping the media will amplify it.”
Phillips rejected a request for the government to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, England, to which Starmer said: “Child sexual exploitation is utterly sickening. For many years, too many victims have been completely let down.”
He added that Phillips has done “1,000 times more than they’ve even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse” and defended his own public record, saying he tackled the issue “head-on” in his time as public prosecutions director.
Musk called for the Labour party leader to face jail time over how the child grooming gangs were dealt with, posting a yes-no poll on X with the statement: “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.”
As Trump’s reclaim of the White House looms, Musk has been hired as the lead of the new Department of Government Efficiency.
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