Elon Musk has launched another attack on Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the prime minister of failing to prosecute child grooming gangs during his time as director of public prosecutions (DPP).
In a series of posts to his social media platform X, the tech billionaire also called for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed for rejecting calls for a public inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham, as well as demanding the release of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who was jailed for 18 months for contempt of court last October.
Hours after the tech billionaire’s intervention, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for a national inquiry into the UK’s “rape gangs scandal”, arguing that “2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice”.
Mr Musk has engaged in a long-running war of words with Sir Keir’s administration, which came to a head during last summer’s far-right riots when the social media boss claimed “civil war is inevitable” in the UK.
Posting to X on Thursday, Mr Musk said: “In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects.
“Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013.
“Who is the boss of Jess Phillips right now? Keir Starmer. The real reason she’s refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Starmer (head of the CPS at the time).”
A number of prosecutions involving grooming gangs were taking place around the time Sir Keir took up his post as DPP.
He launched reforms into how the CPS handles child sex abuse cases, as well as saying that ethnicity or “political correctness” should not get in the way of prosecutions.
Sir Keir has also blamed the previous Conservative government for not bringing in a duty to report safeguarding issues.
Mr Musk’s comments came after GB News reported the government has formally rejected requests for a Home Office-led inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips reportedly responded to two letters from the Oldham Council executive after the authority voted to request a formal public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the borough.
Weighing in after Mr Musk’s intervention, Ms Badenoch said: “The time is long overdue for a full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.
“Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots. 2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice.”
But responding to Ms Badenoch, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Talk is cheap. The Conservatives had 14 years in government to launch an inquiry. The establishment has failed the victims of grooming gangs on every level.”
Mr Musk, who is a close ally of Donald Trump, has been increasingly supportive of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in recent weeks, amid growing rumours that he is planning to donate tens of millions of pounds to the political party.
In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects.
Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice?
Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2025
His latest attack comes just days after Downing Street was forced to defend Sir Keir’s government as “unashamedly pro-growth” after Mr Musk lashed out at his policies.
Responding to calls to build a new plant for his electric cars in Scotland, the Tesla boss said “very few companies” would be willing to put money into the UK under Labour.
Downing Street rejected Mr Musk’s assessment of the government’s policies, but sought to avoid being drawn into a public spat with the owner of the X social media site and a member of Mr Trump’s inner circle.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “I’m not going to kind of get into commentary on individual comments, but if you look at what’s happened since the election, you’ve seen the £63bn of additional investment from the investment summit.
“You’ve seen the government respond to some of the businesses’ key concerns in the UK, which is lack of stability, and the government’s brought back that stability, both politically and economically.”
The spokesperson said “the government has taken an unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach”.
Downing Street and the Home Office have been contacted for comment.
