Jess Phillips has said she has “more important things to be thinking about” than Elon Musk after he accused her of being a “rape genocide apologist”.
The safeguarding minister has hit back at the billionaire’s criticism of her for the first time, telling Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast that his claims are “ridiculous” and she will be led by what victims have to say, not him.
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Mr Musk made the comments after Ms Phillips denied a request for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, saying it should be done at a local level.
The town in Greater Manchester was one of a number of areas where girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.
Mr Musk’s comments have sparked a political row – with the Tories and Reform UK now calling for a new public inquiry into grooming gangs.
Ms Phillips told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that the world’s richest man, who owns SpaceX and is the CEO of Tesla, should “crack on with this ‘getting to Mars'” instead of wading into UK politics.
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“You know, Elon Musk is going to [do] Elon Musk. I’ve got bigger and more important things to be thinking about.”
She said she has dedicated her working life to child exploitation and it was “painful” to watch it become “political football”.
There has already been a seven-year national inquiry into child abuse in England and Wales, which the Conservatives commissioned in 2015 and which looked at grooming gangs, as well as abuse in places like schools and the church.
The investigation, chaired by Prof Alexis Jay, concluded in 2022 but none of its recommendations have been implemented.
Child exploitation becoming ‘political football’
Ms Phillips, who has sat in court with grooming victims, said: “These sudden demands by the Tories, ridiculous statements made about me and my government by a man thousands of miles away, it’s really painful when you know what I know.
“It’s painful to watch it become a political football rather than an actual attempt to really do something.”
She specifically called out Tory leader Kemi Badenoch for declaring 2025 as the year victims should get justice, given the party spent the past 14 years in government.
“Funnily enough, this all started about an Oldham inquiry, which a government she was part of also said should be done locally. And the fact that Kemi Badenoch is reacting to something that Elon Musk has said, I am reacting to things that victims say to me.”
Taking aim at other senior Tories pushing for a national inquiry she added: “I’ve never seen Kemi Badenoch, Chris Philp, Robert Jenrick in any of the meetings that I’ve been in over the years trying to advance policy on this.”
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Ms Phillips went onto announce that the Labour government is planning to hold a summit of council leaders in areas where a local inquiry on child exploitation, such as that which happened in Telford, may be needed.
The Birmingham Yardley MP said this would “ensure that what I saw that worked [in Telford] can happen everywhere”.
“I’m interested in children being safe tomorrow, not whether my political seat is safe,” she added.
On the government announcing a new victims and survivors panel to sit within the Home Office, Ms Phillips said this was always part of their plan but the Musk “furore” has elevated it.
It was among a package of measures unveiled by Home secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday, including making it a criminal offence if professionals who work with children fail to report claims of abuse.
This will be introduced in the spring as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, and was a key recommendation of the Jay Review.
Other suggestions from the review due to be implemented include making grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences and creating a new performance framework for policing exploitation, Ms Cooper said.
However, there is no timeline for when all 20 recommendations will be put in place, Number 10 admitted today.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said the final 2022 report was “not acted on by the last government” so this one is “working at pace” and “will provide any updates in due course”.
Prof Jay earlier told the BBC that victims “clearly want action” and do not need a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, as she too hit out at the “politicisation of child sexual exploitation”.
You can listen to Beth’s full interview with Jess Phillips in Electoral Dysfunction on Friday.
