Angela Rayner has said she is prepared to meet Elon Musk to challenge him on his “factually incorrect” and “completely ill-advised” attacks on Sir Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the billionaire has a responsibility to ensure that claims he spreads on his X social media site are accurate and suggested he should be “correcting the record as soon as possible”.
The tech entrepreneur has used his platform to wage an online campaign against the Prime Minister and safeguarding minister Ms Phillips over the issue of grooming gangs.
He has accused Sir Keir of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” over his record as a former director of public prosecutions and called Ms Phillips a “witch” and a “rape genocide apologist”.
Ms Rayner criticised the Tesla boss, a key figure in US President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle, over his language on Thursday.
Asked whether she was concerned about Mr Musk’s influence in UK politics amid Financial Times reports the American billionaire has held private talks about removing the Prime Minister from office, she told the PA news agency: “I think it’s about how we call out when people are factually incorrect.
“The language (Mr Musk) uses, in particular around Jess Phillips, was completely wrong and incorrect, and also around the Prime Minister.
“The facts are very clear that the Prime Minister took serious action which led to the convictions of child grooming gangs, and therefore completely ill-advised and factually incorrect in terms of how Elon Musk is using his platform and his wealth to not just here in the UK actually, but you’ve seen it across the board.”
The senior Cabinet minister added: “What can be quite dangerous is when people are factually incorrect, and that spreads on those platforms.
“We’ve seen it in real life, where that’s put people at risk. And you know Tommy Robinson, for example – the comments that Elon Musk has made around why Tommy Robinson was in prison was factually incorrect.”
Asked if she would meet with Mr Musk to put her concerns to him, she said: “I would meet with Elon Musk – of course I would. I would challenge him on on a factual basis.
“I think we all have a responsibility to make sure that we work on facts.
“As politicians, we have to correct the record if we’re incorrect, and I think that there is responsibility if you’re using your wealth and your platform in that way to make sure that all those facts are correct, because otherwise there’s real consequences.
“Anyone who’s got a platform, a significant platform, has a responsibility to make sure that they’re factually correct, and when they’re not correct, they should be correcting the record as soon as possible.”
Mr Musk’s barrage of attacks against the Prime Minister have dominated Westminster over recent days and led Sir Keir to accuse critics of spreading “lies and misinformation”.
He has defended his tenure as DPP and claims he tackled child sexual abuse charges “head-on”.
Meanwhile, Ms Phillips told Sky News she has faced a “deluge of hate” after the X owner accused her of being a “rape genocide apologist”.
Mr Musk’s comments followed Labour’s decision to decline a Whitehall-led inquiry into child sexual abuse in Oldham.
The Conservative opposition later tabled an amendment to the Government’s child protection Bill calling for another national inquiry into grooming gangs, but MPs rejected the motion on Wednesday night.
Sir Keir has said a further probe could delay action on tackling child sexual abuse, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year probe which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.
Ms Phillips has pledged to listen to a new victims’ panel announced this week if they called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The Conservatives accused Labour MPs of having “turned a blind eye to justice” for victims of grooming gangs after their amendment was rejected while Mr Musk described it as “unbelievable”.
On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would begin to implement Prof Jay’s call for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, with further details expected to be set out in the coming weeks.
