LONDON: Keir Starmer defended his work as Britain’s top prosecutor on Monday, refusing to mention US billionaire Elon Musk by name but addressing Musk’s criticism that, long before he became prime minister, he had failed to prosecute gangs who sexually abused girls.
For days on his social media X, Musk – an ally of US Prez-elect Trump – has been accusing Starmer of what he said was a failure to prosecute gangs of men, mostly of a South Asian background, who raped young girls when he was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.
Starmer strongly defended his record as DPP, saying he had overcome resistance to tackling the allegations by reopening cases. “I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang. I changed the whole prosecution approach,” he told a press conference, visibly angry. “Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves.” Musk continued to refer to the scandal on X after the PM spoke, saying “Starmer is utterly despicable”.
A 2014 inquiry found 1,400 kids were subjected to sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Starmer is not Musk’s only focus. On Sunday, Musk said Brexit champion Nigel Farage should quit as right-wing Reform Party chief.
