Keir Starmer is as ‘guilty as anyone’ over failures to tackle grooming gangs, a former detective claimed last night.
As pressure mounted on the Government to deliver a public inquiry into the scandal, whistleblower Maggie Oliver said she had no faith in the Prime Minister’s desire to get to the truth.
Ms Oliver, who helped expose the failure to tackle paedophile gangs in Rochdale, intervened after Labour blocked calls for a public inquiry into rape and sexual abuse by gangs in neighbouring Oldham.
It came as Sir Keir was drawn into an extraordinary public spat with Elon Musk over his handling of the scandal during his five years as Director of Public Prosecutions.
The world’s richest man said the Prime Minister was ‘complicit’ in ‘the worst mass crime in the history of Britain’.
Tesla founder Mr Musk, who has emerged as Donald Trump‘s right-hand man, also launched a vitriolic attack on safeguarding minister Jess Phillips over her decision to refuse a public inquiry, which triggered the latest row.
Mr Musk also shared a post asking whether King Charles ‘should dissolve Parliament and order a general election… for the sake and security’ of Britain.
In a further sign of diplomatic trouble to come, Mr Trump himself savaged Labour’s controversial Net Zero plans.
+11
View gallery
A former detective has claimed that Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) is as ‘guilty as anyone’ over failures to tackle grooming gangs
+11
View gallery
Whistleblower Maggie Oliver (pictured) said she had no confidence in the Prime Minister’s desire to get to the truth
+11
View gallery
Elon Musk (pictured) said Sir Keir was ‘complicit’ in ‘the worst mass crime in the history of Britain’
The President-elect, who takes office in less than three weeks, said Labour was making a ‘very big mistake’ in running down the North Sea oil and gas industry.
In a swipe at Ed Miliband’s drive for wind power, he added: ‘Get rid of windmills.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Mr Musk’s outspoken attacks on Sir Keir’s handling of the child-grooming scandal were ‘misjudged and certainly misinformed’.
But Ms Oliver, who runs a foundation supporting abuse victims, said it was time for a ‘totally independent’ investigation into the grooming of girls by gangs of paedophiles in towns and cities across the country.
The former Greater Manchester Police detective said Labour and the Conservatives were ‘equally to blame’ for failing to get to grips with the scandal – and suggested that the PM was among those who had questions to answer about their past decisions.
‘Keir Starmer, as the former DPP, is perhaps as guilty as anyone I know in where we find ourselves today,’ she said. ‘We `all know what’s going on, but I don’t trust a single one of those who to date have been entrusted with keeping our children safe and prosecuting serial rapists. They’ve failed. Repeatedly. Knowingly. Criminally.’
Mr Musk, who posted dozens of highly critical messages about child grooming in the UK on his social media site X yesterday, said Ms Phillips ‘deserves to be in prison’ for refusing a request for a Home Office-backed inquiry into the failure to deal with grooming gangs in Oldham.
The multi-billionaire also renewed his six-month war of words with the PM, which Downing Street has been trying to calm down. ‘Who was the head of the Crown Prosecution Service when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013,’ he said.