SIR Keir Starmer has hit back at Elon Musk over the grooming gangs row, blasting him and far-right agitator Tommy Robinson for “spreading lies and misinformation.”
The PM slammed the richest man in the world and Robinson for “not being interested in justice”.
ReutersSir Keir Keir Starmer gives a speech on reducing NHS wait times as he visits a healthcare provider in Surrey[/caption]
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon MuskReuters
AlamySafeguarding minister Jess Phillips[/caption]
Founder and former leader of the anti-Islam English Defence League (EDL) Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy RobinsonAFP
It comes after the Tesla boss has spent the last week savaging Labour online for refusing to hold a public inquiry into historic sexual abuse by grooming gangs in Oldham.
He attacked the decision, taken by safeguarding minister Jess Phillips as “disgraceful” and said she should be in prison.
He also backed the former EDL leader, describing him as a political prisoner.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed in October after admitting contempt of court by repeating false claims against a Syrian refugee.
Facing reporters after an NHS speech, Sir Keir was asked if he was angry about Musk’s criticism of Ms Phillips.
Defending his record, he said: “Let me start with this: Child sexual exploitation is utterly sickening. Utterly sickening. And for many, many years too many victims have been completely let down.
“Let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else and they have not been listened to and they have not been heard.
“And when I was chief prosecutor for five years I tackled that head on because I could see what was happening and that is why I reopened cases that had been closed and supposedly finished, I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang in the particular case it was in Rochdale but it was the first of its kind, there were many that then followed that format.
“We changed, or I changed, the whole prosecution approach because I wanted to challenge and did challenge the myths and stereotypes that were stopping those victims being heard.”
He also appeared to accuse Musk of “spreading lies”, adding: “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.
“Those who are cheerleading Tommy Robinson are not interested in justice, they are supporting a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case, a gang grooming case.”
He went on: “Those attacking Jess Phillips who I am proud to call a colleague and a friend are not protecting victims.
“Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they have even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse throughout her entire career.”
Taking another shot at Musk, Sir Keir said: “I enjoy the cut and trust 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.”
The PM also rejected calls for a statutory inquiry into the grooming gangs, insisting the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) led by Professor Alexis Jay was “comprehensive”.
The Prime Minister explained: “There have been a lot of reviews including localised reviews, including into Oldham for example, the mayor of Manchester did his review and the Jay report was intended to look at the different types of exploitation that went on.
“It was a comprehensive review.”
He added: “This doesn’t need more consultation. It doesn’t need more research. It just needs action.”
Why has Tommy Robinson been jailed?
By Ryan Merrifield
Tommy Robinson was jailed for 18 months in October after showing a film containing slurs about a Syrian refugee.
The 41-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court after breaching a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating false claims about a then-schoolboy.
Far-right activist Robinson was accused of being in contempt of court over having “published, caused, authorised or procured” a film titled Silenced, which contained the libellous allegations.
Contempt of court is a legal term that describes behaviour that interferes with the justice process or risks unfairly influencing a court case, according to Gov.uk.
The Solicitor General said he “knowingly” breached the order on four occasions.
Robinson breached a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating false claims about then-schoolboy Jamal Hijazi, who successfully sued him for libel.
The Solicitor General issued the first contempt claim against Robinson in June 2024, claiming he “knowingly” breached the order on four occasions.
In court last year, Robinson admitted the charges.
Lawyers previously told a judge that the breaches included Robinson having “published, caused, authorised or procured” a film titled Silenced, which contained the libellous allegations, in May 2023.
The second claim was issued in August, concerning six further breaches, including playing the film to a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London earlier this year, which lawyers for the Solicitor General told an earlier hearing was a “flagrant” breach of the court order.
Aidan Eardley KC, for the Solicitor General, said the film was viewed “very extensively”, including being seen by 2.2 million people after being reposted by Andrew Tate.
And, he said in written submissions that by the time the second claim was issued, it “had received 44m views on X alone”.
He claimed that all of the paragraphs of the injunction were breached “at one point or another” by the film.
The sentence for contempt of court can be up to two years imprisonment at the Crown Court or one month at the magistrates’ court.
Silenced is a film which contains the false and libellous allegations about Mr Hijazi which Robinson was banned from repeating.
Sasha Wass KC, for Robinson, told the court that the film’s production was funded by Infowars, a company run by American Alex Jones, who has claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.
The activist played the film to a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London.
It also remains pinned to the top of Robinson’s profile on social media site X, while he also repeated the claims in three interviews between February and June 2023.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
