UK child-abuse scandal at heart of Musk attacks

Billionaire Elon Musk's attacks on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer concern the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of girls and young women over several decades in towns across England.

Gangs of men, often from Pakistani backgrounds, targeted mostly white girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, some of whom lived in children's homes.

The gangs operated in several English towns and cities, notably in Rotherham and Rochdale in the north, but also in Oxford and Bristol, for almost four decades.

In Rotherham, a town of 265,000 inhabitants, a gang drugged, raped and sexually exploited at least 1,400 girls over a 16-year period from 1997, a public inquiry concluded in 2014.

The Jay Report from the inquiry severely criticized police and local authorities over the scandal, which shocked the country.

Two-tier justice system?

It has also prompted some, particularly on the political right, to argue there is a "two-tier" justice system that treats ethnic minority communities differently.

The National Crime Agency launched Operation Stovewood, the largest of its kind in the UK, to probe the Rotherham gangs and has so far secured long prison terms for around 30 individuals.

An independent inquiry commissioned by the local authority in Telford, western England, into grooming gangs there estimated that there had been more than 1,000 victims over a 35-year period.

Another probe in Rochdale, near Manchester in the northwest, found courts there had sentenced around 40 men for sexual violence against 13 children, "at the mercy of a gang" between 2004 and 2013.

The report also identified 96 men still deemed a potential risk to children, adding that this is "only a proportion" of those involved in the abuse.

The total number of victims from the grooming gangs is not known.

Starmer 'deeply complicit', says Musk

Musk, an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, has honed in on Starmer's record as head of the prosecution service for England and Wales between 2008 and 2013.

The US billionaire has criticized Starmer's government for not agreeing to hold a new public inquiry into the scandal.

Ministers argue Britain held "The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse", which published 19 reports on 15 investigations covering various institutions, the last of which was released in October 2022.

However, critics say it did not focus enough on the grooming gangs.

"Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes. That's what the inquiry would show," Musk wrote Monday on his X platform.

An independent inquiry in Oldham concluded that vulnerable children had been sexually exploited due to "serious failings" by the authorities, but was criticized for only focusing on the three-year period between 2011 and 2014.

The local authority asked the government in July to hold a deeper public inquiry but Phillips responded that "it is for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene."

Starmer on Monday defended his record and slammed those "spreading lies" following days of hostile attacks from Musk. He said "a line had been crossed" following "serious threats" to Phillips.