Keir Starmer has waded into the Musk row (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer slammed Elon Musk for pushing “lies and misinformation” as the row over grooming gangs intensified.
The Prime Minister finally responded to the Tesla chief’s repeated attacks on the UK, hinting the tech tycoon and opposition politicians were "desperate for attention".
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Sir Keir insisted child sexual exploitation is "utterly sickening", adding that he "tackled that head on" as director of public prosecutions.
Mr Musk criticised the Government for refusing to hold a public inquiry into historic sexual abuse by grooming gangs in Oldham, claiming that Sir Keir was “complicit in the rape of Britain”.
Keir Starmer was asked about Elon Musk's comments during a speech on the NHS (Image: Getty)
Elon Musk has repeatedly criticised the UK (Image: Getty)
Mr Musk on Monday morning asked if "America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government."
Sir Keir responded: “Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they are not interested in victims.
“Those who are cheering Tommy Robinson are not interested in justice.
“They are supporting a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming gang case.
“These are people trying to get some kind of vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote, and those attacking Jess Phillips, who I am proud to call a colleague and a friend, for not protecting victims – Jess Phillips has done 1000 times more than they’ve even dreamt about.
“And so, just as I took on the criminal justice system and the institutions when I was chief prosecutor, I’m prepared to call out this for what it is.
“We’ve seen this playbook many times, whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence.”
Sir Keir said a "line has been crossed" when safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and others receive serious threats as a result of the "poison of the far-right."
Speaking in Surrey, the Prime Minister said: "And Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody 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 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, not on those who are so desperate for attention that they're prepared to debase themselves and their country.
"So this Government will get on with the job of protecting victims, including child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting, accelerating the processes. But what I won't tolerate is this discussion, debate based on lies without calling it out.
"What I won't tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention, when those politicians sat in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it. Now, so desperate for attention that they're amplifying what the far-right is saying."
But the comments prompted fury on Monday, with Reform MP Rupert Lowe declaring: "There is nothing “far-right” about wanting justice for thousands of British girls who were abused and raped by mainly Pakistani gangs.
"Not a far-right ‘bandwagon’, as Starmer says - we must move past these slurs.
"Focus on the girls, and brutal justice for those responsible.
"Regardless of Starmer's politics, it is incredibly disappointing to hear a British Prime Minister accuse politicians concerned about the mass rape of young British girls by Pakistani gangs of wanting to 'jump on a bandwagon of the far right'.
"The wrong response."
Tory MP Neil O'Brien said: "A huge number of girls were abused because officials dismissed concerns as "racism". Starmer is still doing the exact same thing right now."
Former Labour MP Kate Hoey added: "The Prime Minister has really gone too far this time in his attempts to call anyone who speaks out on grooming gangs Far Right."
The Labour leader claimed it was a "slippery slope" if truth no longer mattered in political debate.
"It is something about the nature of our politics, because once we lose the anchor that truth matters - in the robust debate we must have - then we are on a very slippery slope," he said.
"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.
"This is actually an important point about our politics, not what about what anybody may or may not say on Twitter."
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Tech boss Mr Musk criticised Labour for refusing to hold a public inquiry into historic sexual abuse by grooming gangs in Oldham.
He attacked the decision, taken by safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, as “disgraceful”. Ms Phillips insisted it was “for Oldham council alone” to decide whether to launch an investigation into alleged exploitation between 2011 and 2014.
Musk also branded minister Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and a “wicked witch”.
The grooming and sexual abuse of vulnerable girls by organised groups of men in towns and cities across the north was first exposed in 2011.
There have been several investigations into grooming gangs in various parts of England, including Rotherham, Bristol, Cornwall and Derbyshire.
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An inquiry into abuse in Rotherham found 1,400 children had been sexually abused over a 16-year period, predominantly by British Pakistani men.
An investigation in Telford found that up to 1,000 girls had been abused over 40 years - and that some cases had not been investigated because of "nervousness about race".
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for an inquiry, saying “some action was taken under the previous Tory government, but not enough”.