UK politics – live: Jess Phillips says her ‘world turned upside down’ by Elon Musk social media attacks
The Tesla boss has launched a series of baseless attacks on the Labour government over grooming gangs
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Your support makes all the difference.Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has spoken about her fears for her safety after Elon Musk unleashed a torrent of abuse against her over the child grooming scandal.
Ms Phillips found herself at the centre of an international storm when she decided not to agree to a national inquiry into child grooming and rape across towns in the north of England because one had already been conducted.
The attacks were led by the X social media platform boss who described her as “a witch” and a “rape genocide apologist”.
Speaking to ITV News, she said: “Of course I worry about my safety. Of course, and you have to, you know, anyone who has worked in the fields of violence against women and girls. Risk is dynamic and I have to take account of the risks in my life and this is one of them currently.”
The Tesla boss has launched a series of baseless attacks on the Labour government over grooming gangs, while also calling for the release of jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson – a development which also saw him turn on Reform leader Nigel Farage on Sunday, claiming he “does not have what it takes” to lead the party.
Reform prepared to set up unofficial inquiry into grooming gangs, Farage says
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that his party would be prepared to set up an unofficial inquiry into grooming gangs if the government did not act within “a few weeks”.
He told LBC radio: “I honestly believe that through the police, through social services, through the last days of the Labour Government, through the entirety of the last Conservative government, there has been a concerted attempt to play this down for fear of what it might do, for fear of being called racist.
“The irony is that the attacks themselves were racist. This was anti-white female racism – of that, I have no doubt.”
Mr Farage said he could raise the money to fund an inquiry, and although it would not have legal powers to compel witnesses to attend, there would be an outcry if anyone did not co-operate.
“I will have no difficulty in raising the money to do this, whatsoever. We’ll appoint independent ex-judges and experts,” he said. “I won’t have the statutory powers but I tell you what, I think this would garner such massive public support that anybody asked to appear that didn’t appear would look terrible.”
More needed to tackle child abuse in Britain, whistleblower says
Child abuse is still happening in Britain and there are a range of issues which are hampering efforts to tackle it, a campaigner has said.
Whistleblower Maggie Oliver, a former detective who resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012, told Times Radio: “It’s about a lack of resources, a lack of training, not prioritising these cases, still victim blaming and judging them, a lack of experience in police forces now, but for me, the buck stops at the top. If this is a priority – invest, commit.
“There are many people out there who know exactly what’s needed but it is more than just a criminal justice problem. It is a societal problem that needs multiple strands and different ways of tackling.
“Every victim of child abuse will not get their day in court but every victim needs help and support and compassion and kindness, and that is really the bigger picture.”
Farage: ‘I have no desire to go to war with Elon Musk'
Losing Elon Musk’s support would harm Reform UK but the relationship can be mended, Nigel Farage has said, after the billionaire called him to be replaced as the party’s leader because he “does not have what it takes”.
Speaking during a phone-in on LBC, the Reform leader said he would be in the United States “for a good sort of four or five days” for Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, during which time he would meet billionaire Mr Musk.
Mr Farage said: “I have no desire to go to war with Elon Musk and I’m not going to, and I haven’t done. I’m a huge admirer of him, I think he’s an heroic figure.”
Asked whether losing his support would weaken Reform UK, Mr Farage said: “Not having Elon’s support would damage us with that younger generation because he kind of makes us look cool, so I’m being frank about that and I am confident that whatever has been said, we can mend. I really think we can.”
He added: “It’s not crucial. I mean look, if I was to embrace, as it looks like I was being urged to do, the sort of violent thuggish people like [Tommy] Robinson, that would do our party immense harm, and probably rightly so.
“So the fact that I’ve stood up on a point of principle, even if in the short term its to my detriment, in the long run may even work in our favour. Of course I want his support, of course I will talk to him in America in a few days’ time, of course I want to mend any broken fences that might exist. I’m sure we can do it.”
Telford grooming scandal survivors criticise Elon Musk’s attack on Jess Phillips
Survivors of the Telford grooming scandal have criticised Elon Musk’s attack on Jess Phillips, praising the safeguarding minister as having “devoted her life to fighting for women and girls”.
In a letter coordinated by the campaign group Killed Women and shared with The Guardian, three survivors of the grooming scandal in Telford and four others who have lost a female relative to gender-based violence or have suffered domestic abuse, criticised the billionaire after he baselessly labelled Ms Phillips a “rape genocide apologist”.
“We write as victims of extreme male violence,” the letter said. “What connects us all beyond our shared trauma is the support and kindness we have received from Jess Phillips over many years, personally and as activists fighting for change.
“We know there are those who would weaponise our pain for their own ends or political gain; who speak out with new-found interest, not to tackle the horrendous crimes that stole so much from us, but to further their own agenda. They should hang their heads in shame.
“As campaigners and activists, we fight every day to stop what happened to us or our loved ones happening to anyone else. We stand by Jess, knowing she has devoted her life to fighting for women and girls.”
Full report: Yvette Cooper says professionals to face criminal sanctions for failing to report child abuse
The home secretary has announced the professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they do not report child sexual abuse – as recommended by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Yvette Cooper told MPs that a “significant package of measures” will be announced by the government in the next few weeks aimed at tackling online child sexual exploitation.
She also defended her decision not to launch a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal, despite calls from Reform UK and Conservative politicians, as well an online backlash from multi-billionaire Elon Musk.
She also said that the government plans to introduce a victims and survivors panel to oversee reforms and make grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual offences.
Holly Evans reports:
Yvette Cooper says professionals will be forced to report child abuse
The home secretary defended her decision not to launch a national inquiry into the grooming scandal
Government will not introduce a new cabinet minister for children
The victims minister has said that the government will not introduce a new Cabinet-level minister responsible specifically for children, as recommended by Professor Alexis Jay in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Alex Davies-Jones told Times Radio: “We already have a Cabinet member responsible for children – Bridget Phillipson.”
Ms Davies-Jones said that preventing child sexual exploitation was also the responsibility of a wider group of ministers, including herself and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, adding: “This is something that is all of our responsibility across government to deliver.”
Calls for new review ‘distracting from issues’, child abuse inquiry chair warns
Professor Alexis Jay, who authored the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, said the row over calls for a new national inquiry into child sexual abuse is “distracting from the issues”.
She declined to answer when asked whether she felt US billionaire Elon Musk knew what was going on in Oldham, where the council has been refused a public inquiry.
But Prof Jay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I have heard very little in the last few days about the appalling and lifelong effects that child sexual abuse can have on people.”
“I am pleased that the subject matter and the inquiry recommendations are finally getting the attention they deserve but this is definitely not the way I would have chosen for it to happen, but it has had the effect of moving on the agenda,” she said.
Prof Jay agreed the plans for new legislation introduced by home secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday had happened quicker than it might otherwise have done, saying: “It [the row] may well have given it some kind of impetus to move forward.”
British public can ignore my son, says Errol Musk
Errol Musk has said that the UK public are free to ignore his son Elon.
Asked what he would say to people who want his son to stop “sticking his oar” into British politics, Mr Musk told LBC: “Well people don’t have to listen to what he says. I mean, he’s just a person.
“The fact that he has money, is a billionaire or something to that effect – I mean, hundreds of thousands of people are tweeting the same things.
“Or just don’t listen to him then, that’s what I’d say. Just tell him to get lost.”
Whistleblower says Starmer ‘out of touch'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, as a former director of public prosecutions, is “out of touch” with how the country feels about the way grooming gangs have been dealt with, according to whistleblower Maggie Oliver.
Ms Oliver, a former detective who resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012, told LBC Radio: “He was the director of public prosecutions. He is front and centre for me, the buck stops at the top.”
On Monday, the Prime Minister defended his record as DPP between 2008 and 2013 after Elon Musk accused him of failing at that time to bring “rape gangs” to justice.
Ms Oliver said of Sir Keir: “The comments he made yesterday really made me feel that he is out of touch with the mood of the country.
“Yet again, people now know what’s happened – you know those years ago, nobody did.”
Alexis Jay urges government to ‘get on with’ inquiry recommendations
Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, said “people should just get on with” implementing the recommendations made in previous inquiries into child sexual abuse rather than holding another one.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prof Jay said she did not agree that more national inquiries should take place.
“We have learned a lot from those reviews that have already been undertaken. Locally people need to step up to the mark and do the things that have been recommended,” she said.
“I think that the time has passed for more inquiries. We’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions and especially for those victims and survivors who’ve had the courage to come forward, and they clearly want action.
“We have set out what action is required and people should just get on with it. Locally and nationally.”
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