Elon Musk's tirade against 'rape gangs' in UK draws minister's rebuke: ‘Pay attention, focus on America’

The United Kingdom has responded to Elon Musk's tirade against the ruling Labour Party over its handling of the grooming gang scandal of child sexual abuse, saying the remarks were “misjudged and certainly misinformed”. Hitting back at Elon Musk, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Tesla chief “got a big role to play with his social media platform”.

“Some of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made, I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed. But we're willing to work with Elon Musk. I think he's got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue. So, if he wants to work with us, roll his sleeves up. We'd welcome that,” Wes Streeting said.

Echoing the same sentiments over Elon Musk's remarks on the “rape gangs” in the United Kingdom, Labour Minister Andrew Gwynne said the Tesla chief was an American citizen and he should "focus issues on the other side of the Atlantic.” 

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“The grooming issue is a very serious issue. We've already had inquiries into Telford, into Rotherham, we've had a local inquiry commissioned by Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, into the situation here in Greater Manchester, which includes Oldham,” Gwynne explained, adding that Elon Musk should have had paid attention to what's happening in the UK.

Andrew Gwynne said, “There comes a point where we don't need more inquiries, and had Elon Musk really paid attention to what's going on in this country, he might have recognized that there have already been inquiries. What we need is justice for the victims, and we need to make sure that the criminal justice system follows up and makes sure that these atrocious things are never able to happen again.”

Elon Musk has been severely criticising the British government for the “poor” handling of the sexual exploitation of several girls across England more than a decade ago. The Tesla chief has even claimed Prime Minister Keir Starmer failed to bring "rape gangs" to justice when he led the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over a decade ago.

“Starmer was complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN when he was head of Crown Prosecution for 6 years. Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain,” Elon Musk said in a tweet.