British Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted Elon Musk for his social media attacks against him, especially over allegations that the United Kingdom was too lenient on “grooming gangs.”
Musk put up numerous anti-Starmer posts on his social media platform X in front of his 200 million-plus followers, with a recent one asking if “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.”
The tech billionaire had tremendous sway in the United States’s presidential election, backing President-elect Donald Trump en route to his White House win. Since then, Musk has backed right-wing European figures such as English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel.
Musk’s wade into foreign politics has earned him condemnation from the likes of Starmer, liberal German leaders, and other European politicians. When asked about Musk’s comments, Starmer criticized “those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible,” pointing out Conservatives in his country for echoing some of Musk’s claims.
The tech magnate has centered his criticism on cases of groups of male Pakistani immigrants in the country having sexually abused and groomed girls in northern England towns over a decade ago. Musk has used the cases to link child abuse to immigration, something right-wing activists in the country have done as well.
Musk also attacked Labour MP Jess Phillips, who is a member of Starmer’s Cabinet responsible for defending women and girls against sexual violence among other things. He called her a “rape genocide apologist,” drawing condemnation from Starmer and other U.K. politicians.
“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.”
Right-wing figures in England back an inquiry into the “grooming gangs” that have been placed at the forefront of the country’s politics. Starmer suggested whoever backed such an inquiry is “jumping on a bandwagon of the far-right.”
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“When politicians – and I mean politicians – who sat in government for many years 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, then that affects politics because a robust debate can only be based on the true facts,” he said.
“This is actually an important point about our politics, not about what anybody may or may not say on Twitter,” Starmer added.
