Musk v. Starmer

Thanks to Elon Musk, it's been a long week for Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Great Britain. Musk has been attacking Starmer over the "grooming gangs scandal" where gangs of men, often Pakistani, targeted young girls (usually from poor backgrounds) to rape and torture. The gangs operated in a number of towns over a four-decade period. Musk has charged that Starmer did not do enough against the gangs when he was the chief prosecutor of England and Wales from 2008-2013. Musk has called on Starmer to be investigated as he was "complicit in the crimes." 

At a press conference on Monday, Starmer was asked by a reporter if he would take legal action against Musk for libel. Starmer replied: "My record is open. Every single case. prosecuted went to court, was looked at by a judge. I was overseen by the Attorney General, which for three of the five years was a Tory Attorney General.

Starmer then shifted the focus of the discussion to what the controversy means for British political culture: It is something about the nature of our politics. Because once we lose the anchor that truth matters in the robust debate we must have, then we're on a very slippery slope.

And when politicians who sat in government for many years are casual about honesty, decency, truth and the rule of law, calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far right, then that affects politics. Because a robust debate can only be based on the true facts.

And that's why this is actually an important point about our politics. It's not about what anyone may or may not say on Twitter.

That actually is the main issue. The main issue is what are politicians over here doing to stand up for the things that matter for our democracy and the way we have robust debate.

That's why I want to call it out. Because I think it really matters. It matters not just to me, to the Labour Party. It ought to matter, it used to matter, to all political parties. And it is a sign of where the Tory party have got to that we're even having this debate.

Then on Wednesday, the Parliament voted down an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing And Schools Bill that would have required another national inquiry into grooming gangs. The vote was 364-111. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch charged that failing to approve the probe amounted to a cover up. 

Meanwhile, Musk is meeting with opposition leaders to figure out ways to replace Starmer soon. Stay tuned.