Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of sexual abuse that might be difficult to read.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been forced to defend MP Jess Phillips, and himself, after the pair were attacked online in regard to decisions made to tackle grooming gangs in the UK. Tech billionaire Elon Musk called Phillips, who is Safeguarding Minister for the UK, a ‘rape genocide apologist’ – and on Starmer, said that in his time as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), he was ‘complicit in the rape of Britain’.
In October, Phillips rejected a request by Oldham Council for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, instead approving a locally-led investigation. Commentary about the decision exploded online after GB News reported it for the first time last week.
Reform UK, and some senior conservatives, have said there should be a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation, but Labour maintain that action should be taken on existing reviews that already offer recommendations to better tackle the issue.
‘There have been lots of reviews including localised reviews,’ Starmer said, noting that Professor Alexis Jay's Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is ’comprehensive’. Other inquires include one in Rotherham, which found 1,400 children had been sexually abused over a 16-year period, as well as Telford, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol.
Phillips' decision was presumably made with a view that time and resources would be better spent actioning the many recommendations already provided by existing inquiries, rather than commissioning yet another review that would not be actionable for years. It's worth noting that government lobbyists and activists have long complained that for issues where existing inquiries are aplenty, commissioning new (unnecessary) ones is usually a signal that the Government is not prioritising said issue - in other words, its a way to appear as though the government cares about an issue without actually implementing any new policies.
In actual fact, Phillips' record on protecting women and girls from violence is impeccable. Before becoming an MP, she had a number of voluntary roles that put her on the frontlines of the issue. During her time at the West Midlands branch of Women’s Aid, she managed refuges for victims of domestic violence. She’s also worked for service providers that support victims of sexual violence and human trafficking.
As an MP, her first ever speech centered on improving Britain’s response to sexual and domestic violence. Every year in parliament, she makes a point of reading out the names of all the women who have been killed by men that year – going into the hundreds – and she’s consistently voted in favour of policies that protect women and children from violence.
What has Elon Musk done to protect women and girls from sexual violence? His philanthropic endeavours don't appear to have extended that far yet (also to note, Forbes report he has not donated more than 1% of his wealth across any philanthropy). He’s been subject to sexual harassment and gender discrimination allegations in a lawsuit filed last June by eight employees of his company SpaceX. Musk did not comment on the lawsuit, and details about where it stands currently have not been made public. What is public though is his extremely chummy relationship with a man found liable for sexual assault, Donald Trump, whom Musk self-titled himself as ‘first buddy’ to.
Starmer, on the other hand, made robust changes to how the CPS prosecutes on sexual violence during his tenure as DPP. He brought the first prosecution of a grooming gang in Rochdale, reopened old cases and called for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse. He also introduced a special prosecutor for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions and reformed the court in an effort to make the process less traumatising for victims. ‘When I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record,’ Starmer said.
He responded to criticism, and in particular Musk’s comments, earlier today saying ‘those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they're interested in themselves.’
He added that the discourse online had ‘crossed a line’ and resulted in serious threats against Phillips. ‘Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they've even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse,’ Starmer said.
Given the respective careers of Phillips and Starmer compared to Musk, it seems ridiculous to even comprehend that they could be attacked for their tackling of a subject both have shown immense passion for. In fact, when Grazia interviewed Phillips last summer, she made it clear VAWG was of upmost importance to Phillips and Starmer personally.
‘One thing I would definitely say about the Home Office is that we really, really care about violence against women and girls,’ she said. ‘It’s a sea of change of culture that comes directly from the Prime Minister, from Yvette Cooper and down to me, if we don’t achieve it, it won’t be because we didn’t try – that is absolutely for sure.
‘What I have to do is constantly be honest about what is possible in what time frame,’ Phillips added. ‘I want what I’ve always wanted: women to feel safe, men to be hold accountable and to prevent young people ending up in a situation that the adults of my generation have left them with. The level of prevention work that is going to be needed is huge… but I quite arrogantly believe that I am the best person to do this.’
As do we, Jess! Soldier on – Musk can take his vile comments to space where no one will hear them.