British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer criticised Elon Musk and others for jumping on the “bandwagon of the far-right” for raising criticisms over the grooming gang child rape scandal and demanding fresh national investigations.
In his first major comments since international scrutiny was raised over the failures to protect thousands of mostly young white girls from sexual predators, mostly of Muslim extraction and from Pakistan, Prime Minister Starmer once again shot down the idea that a national public inquiry is necessary.
The government has claimed that previous localised reports are sufficient and that rather than examining the failures of local police, politicians, and other officials, the focus should be on implementing changes called for by previous reports.
However, Prime Minister Starmer has personally come under scrutiny, and some suggest that he may have been complicit in the failures during his tenure as the nation’s top prosecutor between 2008 and 2013.
Starmer rejected that he is seeking to obscure his history from the public, saying per The Telegraph: “My record, it is open. There is nothing secret about being director of public prosecutions. Every single case I prosecuted went to court and was looked at by a judge.
“This isn’t about whether I defend myself or my record, frankly. That record is there, you can see it, you can make your own mind up.”
Appearing to address X owner Elon Musk, who has placed a heavy focus on the grooming gang scandal over the past week, Starmer said: “Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves.”
“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have but that has got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies, not on those who are so desperate for attention that they are prepared to debase themselves and their country.”
Starmer went on to criticise unnamed politicians in Britain “calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far-right” which he warned is threatening the “nature” of politics in the country.
There have been growing calls for a national public inquiry into the failures to protect young girls in Britain, with it previously being revealed that officials ignored accusations of child sexual abuse committed by Muslim gangs out of concern for appearing racist.
Both Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has raised the issue for over a decade, and recently installed leader of the Tories Kemi Badenoch have called for a national inquiry into the scandal.
Responding to Starmer’s comments on Monday morning, Reform MP Rupert Lowe said: “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.”
For his part, Mr Musk claimed: “Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes. That’s what the inquiry would show.”
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