Musk is 'misjudged and certainly misinformed' over UK grooming attacks, says minister
LONDON — A senior British politician pushed back Friday on Elon Musk’s criticism of the government’s handling of a historic child grooming scandal.
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In recent days, Musk has shared and reacted to posts on his X platform that have been critical of the British government after it rejected a call for a public inquiry into the grooming scandal in the north of England town of Oldham.
Though Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views were was “misjudged and certainly misinformed,” he urged the world’s richest man and close confidant of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to work with the government on tackling the issue of child sexual exploitation.
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The government has argued that Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns and commission its own inquiry into the historical abuse of mainly girls.
A 2022 report into safeguarding measures in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but 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 has also targeted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who he claimed had failed to bring what many term “rape gangs” to justice when he was the director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. The scandals, Musk said Friday, represent a “massive crime against humanity.”
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Streeting told ITV News that the government took child sexual exploitation “incredibly seriously” and that it was supportive of an inquiry into the Oldham scandal, but that it should be led locally.
“Some of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made, I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed, but we’re willing to work with Elon Musk, who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue,” Streeting said. “So if he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that.”
Musk has been, it seems, taking a keen interest in the U.K. political scene since the left-of-center Labour Party won a landslide election victory in July 2024, to bring an end to 14 years of Conservative rule.
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Musk has retweeted criticism of Starmer and the hashtag TwoTierKeir – shorthand for an unsubstantiated claim that Britain has “two-tier policing,” with far-right protesters treated more harshly than pro-Palestinian or Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
Musk has also compared British attempts to weed out online misinformation to the Soviet Union, while during summer anti-immigrant violence across the U.K. he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable.”
Musk also backed calls Friday for a U.K. general election, barely six months after the last one. “The people of Britain do not want this government at all. New elections,” he wrote.
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He has also recently expressed his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the founder of the far-right English Defense League, who is better known as Tommy Robinson and who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court.
As well as offering his thoughts, Musk is apparently interested in putting his money where his mouth is by funding Reform U.K., a right-wing party led by Nigel Farage, who is Trump’s highest-profile British champion, to the tune of 100 million pounds ($124 million).
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LONDON — A senior British politician pushed back Friday on Elon Musk’s criticism of the government’s handling of a historic child grooming scandal.
In recent days, Musk has shared and reacted to posts on his X platform that have been critical of the British government after it rejected a call for a public inquiry into the grooming scandal in the north of England town of Oldham.
Though Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views were was “misjudged and certainly misinformed,” he urged the world’s richest man and close confidant of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to work with the government on tackling the issue of child sexual exploitation.
The government has argued that Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns and commission its own inquiry into the historical abuse of mainly girls.
A 2022 report into safeguarding measures in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but 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 has also targeted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who he claimed had failed to bring what many term “rape gangs” to justice when he was the director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. The scandals, Musk said Friday, represent a “massive crime against humanity.”
Streeting told ITV News that the government took child sexual exploitation “incredibly seriously” and that it was supportive of an inquiry into the Oldham scandal, but that it should be led locally.
“Some of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made, I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed, but we’re willing to work with Elon Musk, who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue,” Streeting said. “So if he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that.”
Musk has been, it seems, taking a keen interest in the U.K. political scene since the left-of-center Labour Party won a landslide election victory in July 2024, to bring an end to 14 years of Conservative rule.
Musk has retweeted criticism of Starmer and the hashtag TwoTierKeir – shorthand for an unsubstantiated claim that Britain has “two-tier policing,” with far-right protesters treated more harshly than pro-Palestinian or Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
Musk has also compared British attempts to weed out online misinformation to the Soviet Union, while during summer anti-immigrant violence across the U.K. he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable.”
Musk also backed calls Friday for a U.K. general election, barely six months after the last one. “The people of Britain do not want this government at all. New elections,” he wrote.
He has also recently expressed his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the founder of the far-right English Defense League, who is better known as Tommy Robinson and who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court.
As well as offering his thoughts, Musk is apparently interested in putting his money where his mouth is by funding Reform U.K., a right-wing party led by Nigel Farage, who is Trump’s highest-profile British champion, to the tune of 100 million pounds ($124 million).
