Residence Workplace minister Jess Phillips has mentioned that “disinformation” unfold by Elon Musk about grooming gangs within the UK and the federal government’s response is “endangering” her life.
Phillips has come underneath sustained assault from the expertise billionaire, who has labelled her an “evil witch” and “rape genocide apologist”, whereas calling for her to be jailed.
Britain has been convulsed in current days by a dispute over the dealing with of historic grooming circumstances involving sexual exploitation of ladies by gangs of primarily British-Pakistani males after Musk referred to as for a brand new nationwide inquiry into the scandal.
Musk’s outbursts in opposition to Phillips, who holds the safeguarding transient within the UK authorities, started after it emerged she had rejected a request by Oldham council for the Residence Workplace to carry a Whitehall-led inquiry into the grooming scandal within the Better Manchester city.
The Residence Workplace has as a substitute urged the native authority to undertake its personal overview, citing precedents for probes in different cities troubled by rape gangs, together with Telford and Rotherham, whereas highlighting a nationwide inquiry into youngster sexual exploitation that concluded in 2022.
On Tuesday Phillips advised the BBC that threats to her personal life had elevated since Musk’s salvos in opposition to her on his social media platform X, describing the state of affairs as “very tiring”, however including: “I’m no stranger to individuals who don’t know what they’re speaking about attempting to silence ladies like me.”
Nevertheless, she added that her therapy by the hands of Musk was “nothing” compared to the expertise of abuse victims.
Phillips advised Sky Information that SpaceX-owner Musk ought to “crack on with attending to Mars” and expressed her anger at political opponents, together with Tory chief Kemi Badenoch, who’ve pushed for a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs after Musk made the identical demand.
Musk has been approached for remark.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer issued a staunch defence of Phillips on Monday, paying tribute to her document defending feminine victims of violence and abuse.
Phillips’ feedback got here after shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick conceded the Conservatives might have “achieved extra” to crack down on intercourse abuse gangs whereas in authorities.
Jenrick defended the earlier Tory administration’s document, however he advised the BBC: “Might we’ve achieved extra, ought to we do extra now? Sure, completely — we’ve to root this out.”
He mentioned a overview by Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired a seven-year nationwide inquiry into youngster sexual abuse in England and Wales that reported in 2022, solely checked out rape gangs in six cities, however added they might have operated in as much as 50.
Jenrick additionally defended his get together’s criticism of the Labour authorities’s determination to not launch a Whitehall-led inquiry into the scandal in Oldham.
Challenged over the refusal of the final Tory authorities to launch an inquiry into rape gangs in Oldham, he mentioned the earlier request got here from a “small variety of councillors”, whereas the current one was by the native authority itself.
Jenrick, who stood unsuccessfully for the Tory management final 12 months, defended his controversial feedback final week that mass migration of individuals to the UK from “alien cultures” with “medieval attitudes in direction of ladies” had contributed to the scandal.
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He mentioned he wouldn’t “disguise” or “sanitise” his language to keep away from inflicting offence, pointing to proof that concern of being labelled racist had contributed to authorities failing to take motion in opposition to gangs that primarily concerned males of Pakistani heritage.
Starmer has accused Conservative politicians of “amplifying what the far proper is saying” on youngster sexual exploitation, after failing to behave “for 14 lengthy years”.
Jay on Tuesday mentioned there had been “politicisation” of the problem and warned {that a} recent probe might delay the implementation of her overview’s suggestions.
She criticised individuals for having “waded into the argument” over the problem “in a really uninformed means”.
Jay has beforehand criticised the previous Conservative authorities for failing to implement the principle 20 suggestions in her 2022 report, which warned of “endemic” abuse throughout society.
