Elon Musk has launched another scathing attack on the UK government, urging King Charles to dissolve Parliament and call for a general election following Labour’s rejection of a national inquiry into child grooming.
The tech billionaire sparked controversy on Thursday over Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of historic child abuse cases in Oldham, accusing the Labour leader of failing to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he served as the director of public prosecutions (DPP).
In his latest tirade, Musk shared a post asking whether the King should step in and dissolve Parliament for the sake of Britain’s security, adding a simple “Yes” in response.
Musk also lashed out at safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, posting that she “deserves to be in prison” after her refusal to support calls for the Home Office to lead an inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
The billionaire continued to stoke the fire by reposting an article in The Daily Telegraph by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who argued that “grooming gangs” should be renamed “torture rape gangs”.
Musk expressed his admiration for Jenrick’s stance, accusing the British establishment of showing more interest in bringing the perpetrators to justice in one evening than they had in decades.
At the time Sir Keir was DPP, several grooming gang prosecutions were underway. He introduced reforms to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to better handle child sexual abuse cases, stressing that ethnicity or political correctness should not hinder prosecutions.
Starmer has also criticised the previous Conservative government for failing to implement a duty to report safeguarding issues.
The day after Musk’s comments, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for a full national inquiry into organised grooming gangs, while shadow home secretary Chris Philp and shadow safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns urged the Home Office to take action.
Despite the calls for a Home Office-led inquiry, Phillips maintained that it was a matter for Oldham Council to decide whether to commission an inquiry into local child sexual exploitation. The previous Tory government had made a similar stance.
Labour defended its record, pointing to its support for the national inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Professor Alexis Jay, which concluded in 2022. The party also welcomed an independent investigation commissioned by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, which covered Oldham.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded to Musk’s criticism, labelling it “misjudged and misinformed”.
However, he extended an olive branch to the tech mogul, inviting him to collaborate with the government on tackling online child abuse, recognising Musk’s platform’s role in addressing the issue.
