Elon Musk, the grooming gangs scandal & what's really going on
What should we do when a person with a serious role in public life says unserious things?
What a year 2025 has been, and we’re not even two weeks in.
There are headlines and tweets today screaming that Labour has just voted against a national inquiry into grooming gangs. Did that really happen?
Technically, yes. But as with so many things context is everything, and there’s rarely room in a headline and certainly not in a tweet for context.
There is understandably a huge amount of outrage around the abuse of young, vulnerable girls by predominantly Asian men on an industrial scale. Such cases have been found in multiple towns and cities across the country over the last 15 years. Worse still, police, social workers and prosecutors failed to protect these girls on many occasions.
But were you to get all of your news and updates on this issue from Twitter, and in particular the feed of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, then you would believe not only has nothing been done but that Labour is deliberately contributing to the problem. And that prime minister Keir Starmer is even complicit in it.
You may even believe the media has written nothing about it, even though front page headlines about the abuse and failures by police can be easily found dating back over 14 years. I myself covered the trial of a gang based in Oxford while I worked for the Mirror back in 2012.
This doesn’t mean enough has been done for these girls and to protect others. Can enough ever be done? But that’s part of the issue with the topic that has been seized upon here, although the facts have been twisted out of recognition, they were totally horrific to begin with. In this row, no one comes out looking like they are doing enough.
There’s quite a bit to unpack here, but let’s start with the vote on an inquiry.
Kill the bill
Last night, the Conservatives introduced an amendment to the government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would have effectively killed that bill and led to a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Starmer told the Commons that a major child abuse inquiry and several reviews focused on child sexual exploitation in specific towns and cities had already been held. He said: “There have been many, many reviews. Frankly, it’s time for action.”
He also argued Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had only recently taken up the cause after it gained traction on social media thanks to Musk.
Badenoch says the child abuse inquiry - which lasted seven years and was not wholly focused on grooming gangs - did not connect the dots between all the criminal cases, and did not examine how racism and cultural issues may have played a part.
The bill itself contains some measures that are aimed at safeguarding children, including tougher rules around homeschooling and school attendance, along with other changes. It doesn’t contain the 20 recommendations that came out of the abuse inquiry.
The Conservatives will have known their amendment had no hope of passing, however introducing it meant they appeared to be taking action for an inquiry, showed support for young abuse sufferers and made Labour look bad because the party has apparently voted against greater transparency.
It’s allowed the Tories to regain some ground. The party was in government when the inquiry was launched, but did not introduce any of its 20 recommendations and there were no calls for a public inquiry before Labour came to power.
Former Tory MP Nadine Dorries told BBC Newsnight this week that the issue “was never discussed” by Cabinet when she was a minister.
Meanwhile Reform leader Nigel Farage - keen to score points against both Labour and the Conservatives - pointed out Badenoch had never called for a grooming gangs inquiry while she was minister for women.
The Times reporter who exposed the grooming gangs, Andrew Norfolk, told the paper that concerns over cultural sensitivities and racism meant that the causation factor for the scandal had never been properly examined. But Norfolk also told the News Agents podcast that politicians jumping on the bandwagon of the issue had been “shameful”.
Why were the Conservatives so keen to table an amendment that would kill a children’s wellbeing bill? They would argue they really want to see a full inquiry for such an important issue. But did they see an opportunity when the man who helped propel Donald Trump into the White House started taking an interest in grooming gangs?
Vying for Musk’s approval
Ahead of the Conservatives proposing their amendment, Musk had spent a huge amount of time tweeting warped takes on grooming gangs. The South African-born American citizen is using it to argue for political revolution in Britain. Analysis of his Twitter feed by The Times suggests Musk is tweeting roughly every six minutes while he’s awake.
He wants a new election - just months after the last one.
He wants King Charles to dissolve Parliament - the King can only do this at the request of the government.
He wants far-right activist Tommy Robinson freed from jail because he’s a political prisoner - Robinson pleaded guilty to 10 breaches of a High Court order having libelled a Syrian schoolboy.
He wants Nigel Farage replaced as leader of Reform - Farage is the party’s founder and currently polls higher on popularity with the public than the PM. Farage is Reform.
All of this has made front pages and dominated news websites for days.
How did we get here, where a wealthy foreigner’s misinformed takes on a serious issue from a platform he owns and controls (even censoring accounts that appear to criticise him) are dictating the news and political agenda?
Here’s a recap in case you’ve been under a rock or unable to bring yourself to read about this bizarre sequence of events that’s unfolded since New Year.
Just before Christmas, Musk, who will play a key role in Trump’s government, pledged his support for Reform. Farage and party treasurer Nick Candy travelled to Mar-A-Lago (Trump’s Florida resort) where they posed for a beaming photo with Musk next to a portrait of Trump sporting a tennis sweatshirt.
Although the main man wasn’t there, it presumably took place with his blessing. The president-elect has been pals with Farage for many years.
If Farage hoped that Musk would do for Reform what he’s already done for Trump, then he’s been left disappointed by how quickly it has all unravelled.
Rumours of a $100m donation from Musk may have been over-egged but it was looking likely that a sizeable donation was coming Reform’s way.
And yet just weeks after that chummy meeting in Florida, Musk unexpectedly tweeted that Farage “doesn’t have what it takes”. The bromance was seemingly over, before it ever had a chance to truly begin.
Just days before all this kicked off, Musk was on one side of an angry row with the MAGA wing of the Republican Party over the US’s visa programme.
Musk had vowed to “go to war” to defend visas for skilled workers, while some elements of MAGA saw this as a betrayal of promises to get immigration under control.
Maybe this is entirely unrelated to what came next, but suddenly Musk was focused on UK grooming gangs. A timely moment to move on from the visa row.
Musk latched onto the long running and complex abuse issue around the New Year, after it emerged Jess Phillips had turned down Oldham’s request for an inquiry. She reiterated a decision by the Conservatives in 2022 that any inquiry should be handled locally. Musk reacted by saying Phillips should go to prison.
Then Musk started tweeting support for Robinson who has long claimed ownership of exposing the grooming gangs. Robinson is currently in prison for contempt of court after repeating false claims about a Syrian schoolboy. Nothing to do with the grooming gangs. Robinson has done jail time before for contempt, having nearly caused a grooming gang trial to collapse.
Musk’s interest in Robinson was always going to be a problem for Farage, who is no fan of the former English Defence League leader. Farage resigned from UKIP over Robinson’s association with the party and reaffirmed his promise last week that Robinson would never be welcome in Reform.
It’s that which seems to have irked Musk, who had been busy tweeting “free Tommy Robinson”.
Farage spent this past weekend praising Musk, saying his backing for Reform makes them “cool”, and insisting it’s OK for them to disagree about Robinson. But then the tweet calling for Farage to step aside came. An embarrassing moment for Farage, but he’s held firm on his stance on Robinson, a move that places him closer to the centre right than the Conservatives on this issue, with Badenoch remaining silent on Robinson.
Musk’s take on the grooming gangs scandal is not only that Starmer does not care about stopping the abuse of children, but that he and victims minister Jess Phillips bear responsibility for it.
He called Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and said Starmer was “complicit in the rape of Britain”. Musk was referring to Starmer’s time as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, when some prosecutions of perpetrators did not go ahead. However Starmer also oversaw changes to the way cases were prosecuted and the prosecution of criminal gangs after recognising mistakes were being made.
Musk has been supported by a cast of characters including misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who owes £2m in tax to the UK government and is facing allegations of rape and human trafficking in Romania. UK police are also seeking the extradition of Tate and his brother Tristan in relation to allegations of rape and human trafficking. The Tate brothers deny the allegations.
Tate’s had quite a week in his apparent role as a protector of women. He launched a bid to “run for prime minister” with a party called Bruv, which has been a welcome moment of hilarity in this storm, then threatened an actual victim of sexual violence with legal action when she responded to his online posts.
It has been fascinating to see this debate unfold on Twitter, where outraged conversations about the sexual exploitation of young girls happen alongside threats against women who contribute to the debate.
What now?
It’s confusing to have to sort through the ramblings of Musk, who has a serious role in the US government and position as a global entrepreneur but says such unserious things. They are leant an air of credibility because the media keeps giving them oxygen - something I make no criticism of, it’s understandable someone like Musk can dominate headlines despite talking rubbish.
Since purchasing Twitter there is no doubt that Musk has been able to use the platform to turn the media’s head in the direction of his choice, and to influence conversations among voters.
Much of what Musk has shared in recent days has been a manipulation of the facts at best and verging on libellous at its worst. Some of what he’s posted has been simply ridiculous.
We can assume his tweet about whether the US should liberate the UK from its “tyrannical government” wasn’t an actual proposal for a US invasion. Or maybe it was, who can tell. This is Musk’s universe, and we have to live in it.
What can be done? Simply switching off Twitter for the UK plays right into the censorship accusations being made by Musk and others. Any legal action against him for specific social media posts would be met with similar accusations, and throw more fuel on the fire.
What is it Musk is trying to achieve? The obvious thing would be he wants to see Britain led by a government that aligns more with Trump’s politics, although he can’t seem to make up his mind who his preferred candidate would be. Farage has fallen out of favour, so is it Robinson or Tate that he prefers? Neither of these characters are in any position to win an election in the UK. He either doesn’t understand that, or he simply wants to sow chaos.
It’s not just the UK Musk has been targeting. He’s also spoken out in favour of the far-right candidate for the upcoming German elections.
Later today Musk will host a livestream conversation with Alternative for Deutschland leader Alice Weidel. Some European politicians have called for the European Commission to step up and act over the way Twitter’s algorithm is manipulated to promote Musk’s tweets.
Trump will return to the White House on January 20, and with him will be a team that includes Musk. While Trump has made no public statements about Musk’s recent tirade against the UK, this crusade will make diplomatic relations a little awkward. But does the incoming administration really care about offending sensibilities? Probably not, given Trump has already said he wants to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal and make Canada the 51st state.
Buckle up, because this is just the beginning.
What I’m Watching
Playing Nice (ITV). It’s a nightmare scenario - two sets of parents learn the children they have loved and cared for are actually not their own. They were swapped as babies at hospital, and now the parents must decide how to proceed. I only recently finished BBC's podcast The Gift, which focused on a family who struggled through their own baby swap revelation after taking a home DNA test kit given as a present. So the subject was fresh in my mind, as you go over all these scenarios of what you might do and how you might feel in the same situation. Of course Playing Nice is a drama, so it takes the subject and injects some truly psycho behaviour into it and a series of implausible events and characters (including a ridiculous doorstepping scene involving a Mail reporter). It’s stressful to watch, but if you like a bit of suspense then it’s worth a look.
Breaking Bad (Netflix). This is the fourth time I’ve watched this incredible series about a high school chemistry teacher who becomes a drug kingpin and it never disappoints, even though I know every twist and turn. I’ve just finished the second series and I cannot get over how amazingly it builds and teases the shocking ending in the final episode with the black and white scenes showing a bright pink bear floating in the pool and body bags on the driveway. If you’ve not watched it before then this is the year to start. And if you have, then may I suggest checking out Better Call Saul, the prequel that focuses on Walt’s lawyer.