Sir Keir Starmer is expected to defend his record on tackling grooming gangs after Elon Musk continued his string of attacks on the Prime Minister.
On Monday morning the tech tycoon tweeted: “Prison for Starmer” and claimed that previous Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown committed an “unforgivable crime against the British people” by allegedly failing to stop child sex trafficking gangs when he was in power.
Sir Keir, who is due to lay out Government plans to slash NHS waiting lists on Monday, is expected to use questions after his speech to defend his record on prosecuting rapists when he was leading the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Musk has spent days using X, the social media platform he bought and renamed from Twitter in 2022, to call for a new UK general election as well as accusing the Prime Minister of failing to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP).
The world’s richest man is set to take on a key role in President Donald Trump’s administration later this month and there are fears the row could threaten Britain and the US’s “special relationship”.
Health minister Karin Smyth said she did not agree with the comments, but diplomatic relations between the two countries would be maintained.
“The United States is a key ally who we have worked with for many years,” she told LBC.
She added: “Of course our international interests are best served by working together and that’s what we will do.”
Mr Musk has also attacked other senior Labour MPs.
He said safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after she denied requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, arguing the investigation should be done locally.
Ministers have hit back, branding the Tesla owner’s comments “misjudged and certainly misinformed”, but Monday’s press conference will be the first time Sir Keir has challenged the remarks publicly.
As DPP between 2008 and 2013, Sir Keir brought in a national network of specialist prosecutors for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions against grooming gangs and changed Crown Prosecution Service guidance to focus on the credibility of allegations rather than whether victims would make good witnesses.
Ms Smyth said Mr Musk was “wrong” about the PM and Ms Phillips.
She told Times Radio: “Jess is an excellent colleague and we know that particularly many women in politics before this have been subject to these sorts of attacks.
“She will continue to do the work that she has done throughout her career in supporting victims of this crime.”
