Elon Musk grooming attacks ‘misjudged and misinformed’, Wes Streeting says
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Elon Musk’s attacks on the UK Government’s handling of child grooming gangs are “misjudged and certainly misinformed”, Wes Streeting said. The Health Secretary however offered an olive branch to tech billionaire Mr Musk, urging him to work with the UK Government to tackle online child abuse.
The Tesla owner has claimed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions. Mr Musk, a key member of incoming US President Donald Trump’s inner circle, also suggested safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she denied requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham on Thursday.
Oldham must follow in the footsteps other towns like Rotherham and Telford and commission its own inquiry into historical abuse of children, Ms Philips said in a letter to the local council. A national inquiry by Professor Alexis Jay concluded in 2022, and probes into Greater Manchester Police’s handling of historical child sex abuse cases in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale have been carried out.
Pressed if Mr Musk’s comments were unhelpful to the Government, Health Secretary Mr Streeting told ITV News that ministers took child sexual exploitation “incredibly seriously”. He added: “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.
