UK’s ‘Pakistani Grooming Gang’s scandal: Why Elon Musk is taking on PM Keir Starmer

UK lawmakers acted decisively on Wednesday to enhance safeguards for home-schooled children. This followed the tragic murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, a British-Pakistani girl. MPs pushed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill forward, advancing it without further votes. However, they rejected an amendment that would have disrupted the bill’s progress.

In another move, MPs rejected a proposal from the Conservative Party calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. The vote was 364 to 111. The debate took place amid a tense Prime Minister’s Questions, where Tory leader Kemi Badenoch argued that opposing the inquiry would suggest a “cover-up.” Despite this, the government’s child protection legislation passed its first Commons hurdle.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Keir Starmer defended his record on prosecuting grooming gangs. Starmer stressed that critics spreading misinformation had no interest in helping victims. This defense came amid a public feud with billionaire Elon Musk, who accused Starmer of complicity in child sexual abuse crimes and demanded a national investigation.

Musk’s social media posts were sharp, accusing Starmer of ignoring the issue. He also targeted Home Office minister Jess Phillips, calling her a “rape genocide apologist” in a tweet. This harsh rhetoric is part of Musk’s broader criticism of Starmer’s handling of child abuse cases, particularly his tenure as head of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service.

The grooming gangs scandal has haunted the UK for decades. It involves groups of men, often from Pakistani backgrounds, targeting vulnerable girls, many from disadvantaged and minority communities. The gangs operated in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale, and Oxford. In Rotherham alone, a gang sexually exploited over 1,400 girls over 16 years. The Jay Report from 2014 revealed how local authorities and police failed to protect the victims.

In response to the growing scandal, the National Crime Agency launched Operation Stovewood, the largest investigation into grooming gangs in UK history. This operation has led to the conviction of around 30 men, though many more remain at large. In Telford, a separate inquiry identified more than 1,000 victims over 35 years. Similarly, a report from Rochdale showed that 40 men had been sentenced for their involvement in the sexual abuse of children between 2004 and 2013.

The question remains: why is Elon Musk so focused on attacking UK PM Keir Starmer? Musk criticizes Starmer for not supporting a new public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal. Ministers argue that previous investigations, such as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, have already addressed these issues in-depth. But critics say these reports overlooked the scale of grooming gang abuse.

Musk has gone further, accusing Starmer of being complicit in the abuse to gain political support. He claims a new inquiry would expose Starmer’s role in the scandal. Starmer has repeatedly defended his record, noting that during his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, he led the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang.

The controversy reached a peak when Musk accused Jess Phillips of obstructing inquiries into the Oldham grooming scandal. An independent investigation there found serious failings in how authorities handled the exploitation of children, but critics argue the inquiry was too narrow in scope.

Starmer continues to face mounting pressure from Musk and others. However, he maintains that the time for another inquiry has passed. Leading figures like Prof. Jay, who oversaw the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, support this view, arguing that a national inquiry would be redundant at this point.

This ongoing dispute reflects a wider debate on the effectiveness of past inquiries and the need for more transparency. Critics argue that authorities must do more to address the long-term impact of grooming gangs. The public’s trust in how the government handles child sexual exploitation remains fragile.