UK politicians must shun Elon Musk’s QAnon-style attack on Keir Starmer over child abuse
In the US, delusional QAnon conspiracy theorists think Donald Trump is fighting a war with elite, Satan-worshipping paedophiles, including leading Democrats. We cannot let UK political discourse become corrupted in the same way
A poll pinned to the top of Elon Musk’s Twitter/X account – asking people to agree or disagree with his statement that “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government” – had, as of late Monday afternoon, attracted more than a million votes, with 60 per cent in favour.
Even the Prime Minister’s staunchest critics in the UK, or at least those with an ounce of credibility, would disagree with the suggestion he is acting like a tyrant. The idea he is so tyrannical that the US should invade could be an unfunny joke or an attempt at satire, but that would undermine his claim to be making serious points about child abuse. No genuine child welfare campaigner would be so stupid and crass.
The appalling and defamatory claim by Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser that Starmer was “complicit in the rape of Britain” because alleged inaction over grooming gangs during his time as director of public prosecutions south of the Border is at odds with a number of facts. For example, Starmer introduced a special prosecutor for child abuse; changed official guidance about police investigations of complex cases in an attempt to increase the number taken to court; and brought the first prosecution of a so-called “Asian grooming gang” in Rochdale.
Child abuse inquiries
Apparently forced into issuing a public response, the Prime Minister said “those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims [of child abuse], they’re interested in themselves”.
The spark for the current row was Labour’s rejection of a request by Oldham Council for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation in the town, with a local investigation suggested instead. This does not seem unreasonable, as national inquiries should generally be for national, not local, issues.
That said, there is a clear need for more work to be done at a national level on child abuse – and not just cases involving ‘grooming gangs’ – whether or not this is done through another national inquiry. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, for England and Wales, published the last of 19 reports in October 2022 while the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which is concerned with children in care, is continuing.
Racist agenda
Far-right racists are trying to use the existence of grooming gangs whose members were mainly of Pakistani heritage to whip up hatred that they can exploit for political reasons. They want us to believe that the actions of a handful of such paedophiles should tar innocent people with similar backgrounds. It’s the same flawed, racist reasoning used by far-right mobs to falsely justify attacks on asylum seeker hotels and mosques last summer after the Southgate stabbings.
Many may see Musk as an ‘alt-right’ figure, rather than a far-right one. However, his endorsement of Germany’s far-right AfD party seems like a crossing of the Rubicon. As an example of how far-right they are, one leading member, Bjorn Hocke, called for a “180-degree turnaround” in the way Germany deals with its Nazi past, criticising Berlin’s Holocaust memorial as a “monument of shame”.
Musk’s attack on Starmer has echoes of claims made in the US by delusional QAnon conspiracy theorists, who believe Donald Trump is at war with elite, Satan-worshipping paedophiles, supposedly including leading Democrats.
We simply cannot allow our public discourse to be corrupted in the same way. Conservative politicians must tread carefully. Members of violent, racist mobs are listening and child abuse is a serious matter. Treating it, contemptuously, like a political football and amplifying outrageous claims like Musk’s will only undermine efforts to deal with a very real problem.
