Keir Starmer hit back at Elon Musk today in the increasingly bitter spat over his record on grooming gang cases.

The PM mounted a robust defence as he took questions after laying out NHS waiting list plans this morning. 

Sir Keir expressed his disgust towards child sexual exploitation, referring to it as utterly sickening. He acknowledged that victims have been let down but emphasized his proactive approach in addressing these issues during his tenure as the director of public prosecutions.

The premier accused opposition politicians of ‘amplifying what the far-right is saying’ after falling to act ‘for 14 long years’.

He vowed to combat the harmful influence of extremists, condemning those who engage in spreading falsehoods and misinformation. Sir Keir pointed out that such individuals prioritize their own interests over the well-being of the victims.

Without directly naming Mr. Musk, Sir Keir refrained from commenting on the billionaire’s controversial query to his social media followers about whether the US should intervene to ‘liberate’ Britain from its perceived ‘tyrannical government’.

‘I think most people are more interested about the NHS… rather than what’s happening on Twitter,’ he said. 

Sir Keir said he was making a ‘general point’ and did not want to ‘individualise’ the row to Mr Musk. He suggested that until recently the Tories would have ‘called out’ attacks on Home Office minister Jess Phillips, saying a ‘line had been crossed’ and she had suffered threats. 

The Tesla and Space X mogul, a key ally of returning US President Donald Trump, has been launching a blizzard of attacks on Sir Keir over the festive period.

Mr Musk has claimed the premier was ‘complicit’ in allowing the gangs’ activities to continue unchecked. 

This morning he posted on his X social media site that Sir Keir should be in ‘prison’, and continued his torrent of criticism after the press conference.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is due to make a statement to MPs on child sexual exploitation this afternoon as the Commons returns from its Christmas break. 

Speaking in Surrey, the PM said he had been responsible for authorising the first prosecution of an Asian grooming gang, and changed the ‘whole approach’ of the CPS. 

He stressed that his record in the role was ‘not secret’ and everything was a matter of public record. 

Sir Keir added: ‘Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody else to speak on her behalf, but when the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book, a line has been crossed.

‘I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies, not on those who are so desperate for attention that they’re prepared to debase themselves and their country.

‘So this Government will get on with the job of protecting victims, including child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting, accelerating the processes. But what I won’t tolerate is this discussion, debate based on lies without calling it out.

‘What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention, when those politicians sat in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it. Now, so desperate for attention that they’re amplifying what the far-right is saying.’

Sir Keir has faced questions in recent days over a 2009 decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to drop a major case against an alleged grooming gang in Rochdale. 

The chairwoman of a previous inquiry that uncovered wide-ranging failings in how institutions protected children has said she is not seeking a new probe – but urged ministers to implement recommendations from her final report more than two years ago.

‘Our mission is not to call for new inquiries but to advocate for the full implementation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse’s recommendations. A Child Protection Authority is critical to this process,’ said Professor Alexis Jay.

Writing in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, Kemi Badenoch said an inquiry should ‘identify the bodies that failed as well as the individuals who facilitated or ignored these crimes so they can be removed from their roles’.

Nigel Farage also backed an inquiry – and said it was fair for Mr Musk to question what role, if any, Sir Keir had in decisions not to pursue serious allegations in Rochdale in 2009.

Supporters point out that as DPP Sir Keir brought in a national network of specialist prosecutors for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions against grooming gangs and changed Crown Prosecution Service guidance to focus on the credibility of allegations rather than whether victims would make good witnesses.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was ‘disgraceful that Keir Starmer is smearing people who are concerned about rape gangs as jumping on a ‘far right’ bandwagon, rather than facing up to his own record on this and reconsidering his refusal as prime minister to hold a full national inquiry’.

‘As Kemi Badenoch said yesterday, a new inquiry must go beyond previous inquiries and focus specifically on the institutional and political failings that enabled the systematic and barbaric attacks to take place,’ he said.

‘If Keir Starmer can’t see why people across the UK are keen to have these questions answered and proper accountability for the victims of this heinous scandal, it just shows how out of touch he really is.’

Mr Musk also posted on X, which he owns, suggesting that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips ‘deserves to be in prison’ for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham and called her a ‘rape genocide apologist’.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting called Mr Musk’s attacks on Ms Phillips a ‘disgraceful smear’ yesterday.

She and the Prime Minister have an ‘actual record of banging up rapists, paedophiles and sex offenders, so they don’t need lectures from anyone else’, he said.

Social media platforms can help to clamp down on those grooming children online if Mr Musk wants to ‘roll his sleeves up and actually do something about tackling violence against women and girls’, he said.

Mr Musk took aim at Ms Phillips after she wrote to Oldham council saying it must follow other towns such as Rotherham and Telford and commission its own inquiry into historical abuse of children.

Labour is now facing calls for a new national inquiry from Reform UK and the Conservatives, the latter of which had refused a request for a public inquiry into events in Oldham while in government.

Sir Keir’s Government is against launching another nationwide probe and has said it is working to implement recommendations from Professor Jay’s inquiry, which concluded in 2022.

That inquiry looked into abuse by organised groups following multiple convictions of sexual offences against children across the UK between 2010-2014, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol.