Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, has recently shared a flurry of posts on X (formerly Twitter) accusing senior UK politicians of covering up a scandal involving gangs of men grooming and raping girls in England.
In a series of posts, Musk accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute grooming gangs during his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, adding that the politician was "complicit in the rape of Britain" for not addressing these crimes effectively.
Musk also criticized other Labour politicians, including Minister Jess Phillips and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for failing to pursue grooming gang cases and instead enabling child abuse in Britain.
Explaining UK's Grooming Scandal
The UK grooming gang scandal refers to a series of high-profile cases involving the organized sexual exploitation and abuse of children, primarily young girls, by groups of men in England's north and Midlands beginning in 1997. The grooming gangs were exposed in a series of investigative articles published by The Times of London in 2011.
Three years later, a landmark inquiry by Prof. Alexis Jay made a "conservative" estimate that over 1,400 girls, some as young as 11, were sexually exploited in the town of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Local authorities reportedly deemed the children to be having consensual sex with the perpetrators. The inquiry also noted that local officials were wary of identifying the ethnic origins of the perpetrators--- the majority of whom were of Pakistani heritage---in fear of being seen as racist.
The grooming followed a similar pattern: Rotherham girls would be courted by young men in public places. They will later be introduced to alcohol and drugs before engaging in a sexual relationship with one man. The victims would later be coerced to have sex with the friends of the perpetrator to prove their love.
Similar operations were uncovered in Oxford, Oldham, and Rochdale.
How Was Starmer Involved in the Scandal?
Starmer was the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between 2008 and 2013 and was responsible for bringing charges against the perpetrators. In 2009, however, CPS lawyers decided not to prosecute the perpetrators, arguing that the victims would not come across as reliable. That said, there is no evidence that Starmer was made aware of the details of the case, per The Guardian.
In 2011, then-chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal overturned the 2009 decision and convicted nine men for sexually exploiting 47 girls. In 2013, Starmer revised CPS procedures to ensure no victim in future grooming cases would be dismissed.
While police officers and social services were found to have failed victims in subsequent inquiries, authorities have not found any evidence of a cover-up.
Are Musk's Claims True?
While the billionaire did share real court transcript excerpts in his posts, he distorted timelines and made a false claim that Starmer knew the victims made "informed choices," according to The Washington Post.
A political expert who spoke to the publication also noted that Musk is advancing right-wing political agenda in his posts.
Musk is currently lined up to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the incoming Donald Trump administration.
