Nigel Farage has defended Elon Musk after he attacked the UK government’s response to gang raids on his social media platform X.
In a series of posts over several days, Mr Musk suggested Sir Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute gangs and said Home Secretary Jess Phillips “deserves to be jailed”.
It comes as the Home Office defended its decision to refuse a request to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. The Conservative Party and British Reform Party are calling for a wider national inquiry.
Asked about Mr Musk’s comments on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Farage said Mr Musk had used “very harsh words” but that under Mr Musk’s ownership X had “freedom of speech”. is back,” he said.
The Reform UK leader was also pressed about his wider relationship with Mr Musk, who is said to be considering donating to the party.
Mr Musk’s latest intervention in British politics comes as the Home Office protection minister, Mr Phillips, told Oldham City Council to launch an independent on-site investigation into the town’s historic child sexual abuse, similar to inquiries set up in Rochdale and Telford. This was done after instructing the user to start. Local authorities had called for a government-led investigation.
The tech tycoon used the decision, made in October, to begin slamming the British government online.
He has repeatedly shared posts from Reform and Conservative MPs suggesting that Sir Keir failed to properly prosecute rape gangs during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and calling for a national inquiry. .
Musk, a key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, called the prime minister a “two-tiered keel” and accused Phillips of being a “rape-genocide advocate.”
On Saturday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described Mr Phillips as a “fearless and formidable person” who had spent many years “working tirelessly for justice for those who have been deeply let down by endemic institutional failures”. defended it as.
Asked about his comments, Mr Farage said Mr Musk had used “very harsh words”, but added: “Hard things are said in public, sometimes from both sides of the argument.”
Mr Farage said he believed in free speech “even if what people say is offensive, even if you find it offensive, even if most people find it offensive”. spoke.
He added: “This guy happens to be the richest man in the world, but similarly, the fact that he bought Twitter actually gives us a place where we can have a properly open discussion about a lot of things. “We may find it offensive.” , But that’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. ”
Mr Farage earlier this week distanced himself from Mr Musk’s support for far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who is serving a sentence for contempt of court.
“The fact that he supports me politically and supports reform doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything he says about X,” Farage said on the show.
“I’m going to talk to him about a lot of things at the inauguration, and this will definitely be one of them.”
In an interview broadcast on BBC One on Sunday morning, Mr Farage said the public was “absolutely right to be angry” about the gang raids.
He added: “People are asking themselves what happened to our country, how did this happen, why did everyone try to cover it up, and why was there not a full public investigation?” I think so,” he continued.
In a letter seen by the BBC, Mr Phillips and Mr Cooper wrote to the Conservative Party explaining why they had asked Oldham council to launch its own inquiry, rather than granting the request for a government-led inquiry. The previous Conservative government rejected a similar request in 2022.
The letter noted that local authorities had already launched their own investigations, adding that victims had said “loudly and clearly” that they wanted action.
“The crime committed by grooming gangs in Oldham was appalling,” they write.
“Young girls were abused in the most brutal and sadistic way. Victims and the community need to know that every step is being taken to achieve justice and adequately protect their children in the future. there is.”
They said they supported an independent investigation commissioned by Mayor Andy Burnham. The investigation focused on historic abuse in Oldham and led to a new police investigation and child protection operations across Greater Manchester.
The letter highlighted the work of the Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry, which released its final findings in 2022, and said: “Abuse has no fear or favor in any setting, whether in a nursing home, church, home or grooming. must be pursued and challenged.” gang.
Professor Alexis Jay, who led the inquiry, said in November that she was “frustrated” that none of the 20 recommendations to tackle abuse had been implemented after more than two years.
On Friday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government was “making progress” in implementing the recommendations “in full” since taking office in July.
Multiple investigations into grooming gangs are underway across England, including Rotherham, Bristol, Cornwall and Derbyshire.
An inquiry into abuse in Rotherham found that 1,400 children were sexually abused over 16 years, mainly by British men of Pakistani descent.
An investigation in Telford found up to 1,000 girls were abused over 40 years and some cases were not investigated due to “racial fears”.
Police statistics for 2023 revealed that 3.7% of all sexual crimes against children reported to police were group-based child sexual abuse.
According to the data, 26% of group-based child sexual abuse occurred within families, compared to 17% of cases involving groups such as grooming gangs.
