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Wes Streeting slams Elon Musk's attack on Jess Phillips as an 'appalling smear' against a 'brilliant woman'
5 January 2025, 11:14 | Updated: 6 January 2025, 07:20
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has slammed Elon Musk’s attack on Labour MP Jess Phillips as "appalling" after the billionaire said she should “be in prison” over her response to grooming gangs in the UK.
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The billionaire X owner suggested Ms Phillips "deserves to be in prison" for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
Safeguarding minister Ms Phillips said in a letter to the local council that Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns such as Rotherham and Telford and commission its own inquiry into historical abuse of children.
Elon MuskMr Musk also attacked Sir Keir Starmer, saying the Prime Minister failed to bring "rape gangs" to justice when he was director of public prosecutions.
Speaking to LBC’s Lewis Goodall, Mr Streeting threw his support behind Ms Phillips, branding Musk’s comments an “appalling smear” against a “brilliant woman.”
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“Keir and Jess, before they came into politics, helped to lock away rapists, wife beaters and paedophiles.
“They have done more in their professional lives for women than their social media critics could ever begin to do in terms of their own record.
“And the reason they came into politics is their experiences in the criminal justice system showed them change needed to come from politics.”
He added: “I think we’ve been giving far too much oxygen and airtime to a bloke in America with a very loud megaphone, we will deliver justice for victims and their families.”
On Musk’s comments, he said: “This is not true, it is misinformation.
“This is a free country, he’s free to say what he would like but all I would say is with power comes responsibility.
“We have seen where a whipping up of hatred could lead to.
“I think these comments make Jess Phillips less safe. I don’t want to live in a country where people exercise their voice through political violence.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Ms Phillips had "campaigned tirelessly" on behalf of those who had been failed by institutions.
"Jess Phillips has dedicated her career to tackling sexual violence and abuse and to being a voice for victims and survivors of the most terrible crimes, including child sexual abuse," she said.
"From setting up the first ever child sexual exploitation service in the Black Country and supporting survivors in Telford, Jess has been a fearless and formidable advocate for victims and survivors.
"She has worked with whistleblowers and campaigned tirelessly for justice for those badly let down by endemic institutional failure."
As a Home Office minister, Ms Phillips has put the experience of grooming and trafficking victims "at the heart" of the department's work on modern slavery and launched a national scheme so police and staff work together to spot when hotels are used as a site of child sexual exploitation, Ms Cooper said.
Ms Cooper said the Birmingham Yardley MP would keep working on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, which published its final report in 2022.
Last year, Ms Phillips described X, formerly Twitter, as a "place of misery" and said she planned to use the site less.
Its owner Mr Musk, a key member of US President-elect Donald Trump's inner circle, shared and reacted to a series of tweets relating to grooming in the UK earlier this week.
The Tesla boss described the Prime Minister as "two-tier Keir", claiming there was "no justice for severe, violent crimes but prison for social media posts" in the UK.
He also said Sir Keir failed to bring "rape gangs" to justice when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP) between 2008 and 2013.
