Debate around the handling of a child sexual abuse scandal that revealed how gangs of men had groomed, trafficked and raped young girls more than a decade ago is dominating the political agenda in the United Kingdom after Elon Musk weighed in on the issue.
The billionaire accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to tackle the scandal when he was the country’s chief prosecutor, saying he was “complicit in the rape of Britain” and should quit.
Musk has increasingly been turning his attention to European politics, including making repeated attacks on the UK’s Labour government.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that he had held private discussions with allies about removing Starmer from his position before the next general election, which is due to be held no later than August 2029.
Here’s everything you need to know about the scandal and Musk’s latest intervention in UK politics.
What was the UK grooming gang scandal?
A report in 2014 made a conservative estimate that more than 1,400 girls were sexually exploited in the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire between 1997 and 2013. Many were already known to local services because they were in care or had been subject to neglect.
It said girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators. It said local officials deemed the children to be having consensual sexual intercourse.
The report said the majority of known perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage and that in some cases local officials and other agencies had been wary of identifying ethnic origins for fear of upsetting community cohesion, or being seen as racist.
An investigation into similar cases in Oldham in Greater Manchester criticised police and the local council but said they had not discovered a cover-up.
Becky Riggs, UK police chief on child protection, previously said that media coverage has tended to focus on specific communities and the so-called “grooming gangs”, but group-based offending occurs in various forms, and across different ethnicities.
A 2020 Home Office report said “it was likely that no one community or culture is uniquely predisposed to offending”.
What claims did Elon Musk make about the grooming gangs scandal?
In a series of posts over several days on his social media site X, Musk criticised the handling of the grooming gangs scandal.
Among his claims were that “a quarter-million little girls were — still are — being systematically raped by migrant gangs in Britain” — an assertion there is no reliable evidence to support.
Musk highlighted that Starmer’s time as chief state prosecutor in England and Wales coincided with the emergence of the scandal, accusing him of failing to tackle the issue and being “deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes”.
He also accused the UK’s safeguarding minister Jess Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist” who “deserves to be in prison” after she rejected a request to order a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, telling the local council it should instead commission its own investigation.
Musks’ posts have amplified demands from opposition politicians including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, for a new national inquiry into the scandals.
The party has criticised Musk for “sharing things that are factually inaccurate”, though, and distanced itself from his call for Phillips to be jailed.
What was Keir Starmer’s role in the UK grooming gang scandal?
Starmer was the Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service between 2008 and 2013.
This week he defended his record, saying he had tackled the issue head-on, brought the first major prosecution of a gang accused of grooming and rape, and had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted when he left the role.
None of the probes into the scandal singled Starmer out for blame or found that he tried to block prosecutions due to concerns over alleged Islamophobia.
Keir Starmer was the Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service between 2008 and 2013. Source: Getty / AFP
Starmer said the debate around the handling of grooming gangs had “crossed a line”, resulting in threats against MPs, including Phillips.
“We have seen this playbook many times – whipping up of intimidation and of threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it,” he said.
“Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves.”
Is a new grooming gang inquiry needed?
The UK has held numerous investigations into child abuse scandals in different areas of northern England. A broader nationwide public inquiry into child sexual abuse, including within churches and schools, concluded in 2022.
Professor Alexis Jay, who led the inquiry, said a new probe was not needed, and the government should instead work to implement the 20 recommendations she made in her final report.
Starmer on Wednesday accused the Conservatives, who were the ruling party during the Jay inquiry was released, of “14 long years” of inaction on the issue. Badenoch defended her party’s record.
Starmer said his government, which was elected last July, was working at pace to implement the recommendations.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at and .
Anyone seeking information or support relating to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831 or Blue Knot on 1300 657 380.
