Musk ‘knows absolutely nothing’ about grooming gangs, Jess Phillips says
Musk ‘knows absolutely nothing’ about grooming gangs, Jess Phillips says
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Elon Musk “knows absolutely nothing” about the subject of grooming gangs, Jess Phillips has said, after the billionaire attacked her on social media. The Home Office minister suggested her life had been turned upside down after Mr Musk used his X social media platform to accuse her of being a “rape genocide apologist”, following her decision to decline a Whitehall-led inquiry into child sexual abuse in Oldham.
She branded Mr Musk’s comments “ridiculous” adding: “My immediate thought was like just, it’s sort of like, what a joke. And then the realisation of what this is probably going to mean for you.”. Asked if it had turned her world upside down, Ms Phillips replied: “Yeah a little bit, a lot. Well, a lot actually it’s… it’s not great.”.
She added: “The thing that annoys me the most about it is it takes up so much bandwidth of my time from a man who knows absolutely nothing about the subject he’s talking about, when the only thing I ever want to be doing is being able to use all of my brain power to focus on the hundreds of girls I have supported over the years who have been victims of grooming gangs and what needs to happen to make their lives better and to stop what is still happening today.”.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, the minister acknowledged there were now protections in place for her safety since the Tesla owner began posting on social media about her. Professor Alexis Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has said “the time has passed” for another lengthy examination of grooming gangs and claimed the row between ministers and Mr Musk is “distracting from the issues”.
