The billionaire Tesla owner has continued his attacks on the prime minister overnight, and suggested he will be gone “soon”. Sir Keir Starmer is due to hold his first cabinet meeting of 2025 this morning. Listen to today’s edition of Politics At Jack and Sam’s as you scroll.
Tuesday 7 January 2025 08:11, UK
As the grooming scandal continues to dominate the news agenda, the Conservative Party has announced that it will be tabling an amendment to a bill to try to force a vote on holding a statutory public inquiry – something the government says is not needed as others have already taken place.
We spoke a short while ago to victims minister Alex Davies-Jones, and we asked how she will vote on the amendment, should the Speaker select it.
She told Sky’s Wilfred Frost: “I won’t vote for it because we’ve already had a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation and abuse.”
She explained that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, conducted by Professor Alexis Jay, has already “conducted an extensive investigation”, with “over 7,000 brave victims and survivors” giving their testimony.
“It is for them that we need to deliver justice and we need to get on with the job of delivering for them, working at pace to deliver those recommendations that the previous government failed to do,” the minister said.
Asked what she would say to survivors who may think that some stones have been left unturned by previous inquiries, Ms Davies-Jones noted that the government is “implementing a new victims voice panel, which will be integral to working through these recommendations with us as government so that we have those victims and survivors at the heart of these recommendations”.
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard are back for 2025 with their guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes.
As the prime minister attacked those spreading misinformation online about child grooming gangs, how will the backlash from his opponents roll on?
The Conservative Party is attempting to force a vote on a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation, but does it have any legs? Especially when the government is already planning to tighten the law in its upcoming Crime and Policing Bill.
And when it all boils down – how do you solve a problem like Elon Musk?
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Perpetrators who create sexually explicit “deepfakes” of adults could be prosecuted under new laws being introduced to help protect women and girls.
It is already illegal for such images to be created of children, but the law is now set to cover those over 18 after the Ministry of Justice said the “proliferation” of these “hyper-realistic images” has been growing at an “alarming rate”.
Deepfakes are images that have been edited or altered to create a realistic portrayal of a moment that didn’t take place.
They are usually created using artificial intelligence tools which respond to a prompt by the user.
Both those who create and share sexually explicit deepfake images could be charged under the new law that is set to be introduced.
The government has not yet revealed what sentences those found guilty of the offences could face.
The Labour government had promised in its 2024 general election manifesto that it would make it illegal to create sexually explicit deepfake images.
Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones said: “It is unacceptable that one in three women have been victims of online abuse.
“This demeaning and disgusting form of chauvinism must not become normalised, and as part of our plan for change we are bearing down on violence against women – whatever form it takes.
“These new offences will help prevent people being victimised online. We are putting offenders on notice – they will face the full force of the law.
Analysis by Beth Rigby, political editor
For days, the attacks had been raining down from Elon Musk and his supporters on Keir Starmer, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and the wider government, over handling of the historical sex abuse cases.
The consensus in Number 10, as voiced by another leader subject to Mr Musk’s ire – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – was do “not feed the troll”.
And so, as Mr Musk posted dozens of times about sex grooming gangs in the north of England, and accused Ms Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist” and a “wicked witch”, the government kept out of the fray.
But that all changed on Monday when the PM came out swinging, with the most impassioned remarks I can remember him making, when I asked him to comment on Mr Musk’s abuse of Ms Phillips on social media.
He said the debate on child sex exploitation was based on lies, with politicians “jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention”, as he hit back at not just at Mr Musk but the leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch too.
Elon Musk has continued his attacks on Sir Keir Starmer overnight, branding the prime minister “evil”.
The billionaire owner of X also nicknamed the PM “Squirmy Starmer”, and suggested he will be gone from his post “soon”, like Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
The ongoing attacks from Mr Musk come after the PM accused people of “spreading lies” about grooming gangs and said they are not interested in victims.
Sir Keir’s reaction came after Mr Musk accused him of being “complicit” in the scandal.
“Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and wide as possible, they’re not interested in victims. They’re interested in themselves,” Sir Keir said yesterday.
“I enjoy the thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have. But that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies. Not on those who are so desperate for attention that they’re prepared to debase themselves and their country.”
He said he would not comment on specific people’s accusations but was answering a question about Mr Musk claiming safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in jail” and calling her a “rape genocide apologist” for rejecting a call for a national inquiry into historical child grooming in Oldham.
The PM accused the Tories of “jumping on a bandwagon” and “amplifying what the far-right is saying” on child sexual abuse after failing to act “for 14 long years”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is calling for a full national inquiry into grooming gangs and will seek to table an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill on Wednesday to force a vote on the issue.
Mr Musk reacted to Sir Keir on Monday by accusing him of being “deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes”.
Good morning!
Welcome back to the Politics Hub on this Tuesday, 7 January 2025.
Fallout is likely to continue following the PM’s decision to hit back at Elon Musk following days of relentless attacks on him and his safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips.
As you will probably have seen, Sir Keir Starmer accused people of “spreading lies” about grooming gangs and said they are not interested in victims after Mr Musk accused him of being “complicit” in the scandal.
Later in the day, the home secretary announced the government would implement a series of reforms set out by previous inquiries into child sexual abuse and exploitation – including ensuring that professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they fail to report claims of sexual abuse.
And the government is today announcing that perpetrators who create sexually explicit “deepfakes” of adults could be prosecuted under new laws being introduced to help protect women and girls.
Billionaire Musk has spent the last few hours tweeting – he has nicknamed the PM “Squirmy Starmer”, said he will be gone “soon” like Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau, and also called him “evil”.
Plenty for Sir Keir and his top ministers to chew over at their cabinet meeting later this morning.
Over in parliament…
Health Secretary Wes Streeting and his ministers will face questions from MPs in the Commons from 11.30am.
There will also be a Westminster Hall debate on the impact of the autumn budget, and the potential impact of the employers’ national insurance hike on charities.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner will be questioned by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee from 2.30pm – her first time facing scrutiny from MPs in this format.
We’ll be discussing all of that and more with…
Follow along for the very latest political news.
We’ll be back tomorrow with all the latest from Westminster.
Until then, you can scroll through the page to catch up on Monday – and today’s episode of the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge.
Thanks for joining us!
Sir Keir Starmer has announced a new deal between the NHS and the private sector to cut waiting lists.
The government wants all patients waiting for operations and other planned procedures to be seen within 18 weeks.
What’s being focused on?
Spare private sector capacity will be set aside for areas with the very longest waits – such as gynaecology and orthopaedics.
The former has a backlog of 260,000 women waiting more than 18 weeks, while more than 40% of patients in the latter are also waiting longer than that.
More choice
The prime minister said it would allow patients to choose between the NHS and the private sector – but with the latter still being funded by the health service and therefore being free.
He said it will give patients in more deprived areas where NHS provision is more limited a greater choice over where they are treated – including for tests and scans.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting added: “I’m not going to allow working people to wait longer than is necessary, when we can get them treated sooner in a private hospital, paid for by the NHS.
“If the wealthy can be treated on time, then so should NHS patients.”
What else?
The NHS and private sector will seek to align their digital systems, so patients can see all their appointments and results on the NHS app.
“Longer-term contractual relationships” are also to be established, allowing for further private investment in NHS capacity.
They’ll also work together on training new staff.
Lee Anderson, the Reform UK MP for Ashfield, today said Labour should “hang their heads in shame” and claimed “young, British, white girls are being systematically raped by men of Pakistani heritage”.
Addressing the House of Commons, he told MPs: “The Labour lot over there are banging on about playing politics with this important issue, but the last time I attended a debate on child rape gangs there was just one Labour backbencher turned up, they should hang their heads in shame.
“But will the home secretary agree with me that we need a specific inquiry into why young British, white girls are being systematically raped by men of Pakistani heritage?”
Yvette Cooper replied: “These are vile crimes against children and across the country we have seen young girls, we have seen teenagers, and we have seen young boys who have been exploited in the most cruel and horrendous way by perpetrators.
“We have seen the abuse by Pakistani heritage gangs, paedophile gangs operating online, we have seen abuse in communities and institutions and in family homes. All of those crimes are truly horrendous.”
She added: “I called for the law to be changed so that it was a responsibility on public servants to report child abuse, and that it would be an offence to cover up child abuse.
“The government that (Mr Anderson) was part of for many years failed to bring that duty to report in.”
Analysis by Beth Rigby, political editor
For days, the attacks had been raining down from Elon Musk and his supporters on Keir Starmer, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and the wider government, over handling of the historical sex abuse cases.
The consensus in Number 10, as voiced by another leader subject to Mr Musk’s ire – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – was do “not feed the troll”.
And so, as Mr Musk posted dozens of times about sex grooming gangs in the north of England, and accused Ms Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist” and a “wicked witch”, the government kept out of the fray.
But that all changed on Monday when the PM came out swinging, with the most impassioned remarks I can remember him making, when I asked him to comment on Mr Musk’s abuse of Ms Phillips on social media.
He said the debate on child sex exploitation was based on lies, with politicians “jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention”, as he hit back at not just at Mr Musk but the leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch too.
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