Health Secretary Wes Streeting has insisted that Labour is committed to the “full implementation” of the recommendations of an Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay.
Sunday 5 January 2025 15:56, UK
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Reform’s deputy leader has praised Elon Musk as “popular” and “appreciated” by the British public – as a government minister criticised the tech tycoon for “ridiculous” and “ill informed” comments on the UK grooming scandal.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Richard Tice defended the owner of X and Tesla as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history”.
He said he was content to have Mr Musk, who is considering making a donation to Reform UK, support his party, adding: “He has a great interest in and the politics of this country and in the economy growing.”
It comes in contrast to the stance taken by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, who said he was “not interested” in what Mr Musk had to say on the grooming scandal that took place across a swathe of UK towns and cities more than a decade ago.
Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.
Nigel Farage has just responded to a claim from Elon Musk that he “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead Reform UK.
The Reform UK leader said: “Well, this is a surprise!
“Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree.”
He added: “My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson, who is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court. for “telling the truth” about grooming gangs in the UK, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
Yesterday at a Reform party conference, Mr Farage distanced himself from Robinson, saying the jailed activist was “not what we need”.
Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – admitted at Woolwich Crown Court in October to breaching an injunction banning him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee schoolboy, after he was successfully sued for libel in 2021.
In the last hour, the billionaire businessman said on social media that Reform UK “needs a new leader”.
Mr Musk said: “Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
In an unusual turn of events, billionaire businessman Elon Musk last week criticised the Labour government’s reluctance to launch an inquiry into the Oldham grooming gangs scandal.
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, said that while she recognised the “strength of feeling” over the matter, she believed it was for “Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene”.
However, Mr Musk, who has spoken positively about Reform UK on X and is reportedly considering making a donation to Nigel Farage’s party, has been critical of the government’s handling of child sexual exploitation across a number of towns and cities more than a decade ago.
He has claimed Sir Keir Starmer had failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he led the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In 2013, Sir Keir introduced new guidelines for how child sexual abuse victims should be treated and how a case should be built and presented in court.
Mr Musk, who will become US president-elect Donald Trump’s efficiency tsar this month, also argued that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she rejected requests from Oldham Council for a national inquiry into instances of child sexual exploitation in the town.
He claimed “the real reason she’s [Ms Phillips] refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time).”
Elon Musk has just insisted that Nigel Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead Reform UK.
Taking to his social media platform X, he said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
It comes shortly after a surprise intervention by the billionaire businessman on Labour’s reluctance to launch an inquiry on grooming gangs in Oldham.
He argued that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she rejected requests from Oldham Council for a national inquiry into instances of child sexual exploitation in the town.
He claimed “the real reason she’s [Ms Phillips] refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time).”
But today, Reform UK leader Mr Farage told the BBC that Mr Musk had used “very tough terms” but that “free speech was back” on X under his ownership.
Mr Farage said “tough things get said… by both sides of the debate”.
He said Mr Musk’s ownership of X makes it a place for “proper open debate”.
The Reform UK leader also said he expected to speak to Mr Musk at the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on 20 January.
Mr Musk will become the soon-to-be president’s efficiency tsar later this month.
Analysis by Ali Fortescue, political correspondent
Remember Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk’s cosy fireside AI chat not so long ago?
How much has changed since then.
Politicians came out swinging in all directions this morning on the subject of Elon Musk.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says he is “not interested” in the tech billionaire’s views and called him “ill informed”.
Deputy leader of Reform UK Richard Tice instead called him “popular, appreciated by many, many people in this country”.
Views may differ, but why is a US entrepreneur once again dominating the political conversation in the UK?
He has shown a relentless willingness to spend time attacking the British government, wading in on a whole range of issues to his 210.8 million followers on X.
But it is hard to predict where Mr Musk will go next, and that makes things difficult for all parties – even Reform UK.
He has not just shown support for Nigel Farage, but recently Tommy Robinson too, someone Mr Farage has been keen to distance himself from over the years.
The Reform UK leader carefully navigated questions about Mr Musk on Friday, but any deal on money flowing from Mr Musk to Reform UK won’t be totally straightforward.
This row about Jess Philips is of course fundamentally about something much more serious. Child sexual exploitation, grooming gangs allowed to target young women in places like Rochdale.
Once again though British political debate is focused on Elon Musk’s words.
With Labour’s general election victory in the rearview mirror, eyes are turning to the next battle: who will be the party’s next candidate for London mayor.
Sadiq Khan has not said whether he will seek a historic fourth term as London mayor, but already within Labour names are beginning to emerge as potential successors should he decide not to stand again.
Those who have been tipped as potential runners in the race include Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, Florence Eshalomi, Labour MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, and Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent East and former shadow minister.
Tap the link below to read all about the possible contenders from our political reporter Alexandra Rogers:
Analysis by Adam Boulton, Sky News commentator
There’s no doubt that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and live-in best friend of the US president-elect, must be a busy man – even before a Tesla truck exploded at the entrance to the Trump hotel in Las Vegas on 1 January.
Musk was up late dad-dancing at Donald Trump’s glitzy New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago. Then there is the string of major companies he is involved in running, including Tesla, Space X, Starlink, the Boring Company, Neuralink and OpenAI.
Yet he still found time to start the year opining on British politics on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter which he bought for $44bn in 2022. Each post typically attracts tens of millions of views.
There is no obvious reason for Musk’s recent interventions in British affairs.
He has made similar headline-grabbing pronouncements on German politics, causing outrage over the Christmas period by publicly endorsing the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party ahead of February’s elections.
A total of 61 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats yesterday, after five days of quiet for Border Force.
The migrants made the treacherous journey from France on one boat, breaking a quiet spell for arrivals over the New Year period.
The arrivals were the first since 29 December – when 291 migrants were spotted crossing the Channel on six small boats.
These are also the first migrants to illegally cross the water in 2025.
A total of 36,816 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2024, provisional government figures show.
The figure is up 25% on 2023 when 29,437 people arrived in small boats.
The number successfully making the journey in 2024 is the second-highest since records began in 2018. The total, however, is down 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
The number of people who died while making the hazardous journey across the busiest shipping lane in the world was not published in the Home Office data, though 2024 was considered the deadliest for Channel crossings.
According to the French coastguard, 53 people died across the 12 months.
Historian and author Anthony Seldon believes not.
Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Seldon said Sir Keir Starmer’s first six months in office have been the worst of any Labour prime minister – but things could still improve.
He said: “He’s managed to alienate most people across the board, but it is not too late.
“The big question is can he learn from his mistakes and can he be different from January onwards? If he can learn, then there’s no reason why he can’t go on to do a full term and with a creditable rating for his government.
“If he doesn’t learn, then I think after the May elections, people will start concluding that the problems we saw in the first six months, which are very much his own problems.”
Hear more of what Mr Seldon had to say below:
By Serena Barker-Singh, political correspondent
Reform UK is a party that’s vying for attention and is not ashamed of how it gets it.
With political support from Elon Musk this week amplifying Reform UK talking points on his platform X, the party has been able to make a splash in the new year ahead of the government.
Already this month the party has had two conferences in two days, and with only a handful of MPs there is opportunity for all of them to speak. With one notable exception – James McMurdock MP.
Despite being the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, he isn’t on the schedule for the East of England conference, with Sky News initially told he wasn’t planning on attending.
Controversy has surrounded the politician since it was unveiled that he was jailed nearly two decades ago for repeatedly kicking his then girlfriend in 2006 while drunk outside a nightclub – something not made public when he was standing to be an MP.
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