MPs progressed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to the next stage of the parliamentary process without the need for a further formal vote.

That came after MPs rejected an amendment that threatened to derail the legislation.

The MPs have rejected a Conservative bid to push for another national inquiry into grooming gangs by 364 votes to 111. The Government’s draft child protection legislation cleared its first Commons hurdle on Wednesday following a bitter Prime Minister’s Questions in which Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said failing to back a probe would fuel concerns about a “cover-up”.

The development comes after Keir Starmer has defended his record of prosecuting child grooming gangs and said those “spreading misinformation are not interested in the victims”, as he remains locked in a row with billionaire Elon Musk.

Elon Musk’s attacks on UK PM Keir Starmer

The Tesla and X owner has launched a slew of social media posts attacking the UK Prime Minister in recent days, accusing him of being “complicit in the crimes” of child sex offenders as he called for a national investigation into child sexual abuse.

The PM has fought back, accusing Elon Musk and others of “spreading lies and misinformation”, and also saying “a line has been crossed” by the businessman when he described Home Office minister Jess Phillips as a “rape genocide apologist”.

The dispute follows weeks of hostile tweeting by Musk, one of US President-elect Donald Trump’s top aides, in which he has criticised Keir Starmer’s handling of the summer riots and expressed support for jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Writing for the Sun newspaper, Sir Keir defended his time working as England and Wales’ chief prosecutor between 2008 and 2013, the period when he lead the justice system as it began to prosecute child grooming gangs, and which has been a subject of Musk’s attacks.

What is the UK grooming gangs scandal?

Elon Musk’s attacks on Keir Starmer concern the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of girls and young women over several decades in towns across England, news agency AFP reported.

Gangs of men, often from Pakistani backgrounds, targeted mostly white girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, some of whom lived in children’s homes.

The gangs operated in several English towns and cities, notably in Rotherham and Rochdale in the north, but also in Oxford and Bristol, for almost four decades.

In Rotherham, a town of 265,000 inhabitants, a gang drugged, raped and sexually exploited at least 1,400 girls over a 16-year period from 1997, a public inquiry concluded in 2014.

The Jay Report from the inquiry severely criticised police and local authorities over the scandal, which shocked the country.

It has also prompted some, particularly on the political right, to argue there is a “two-tier” justice system that treats ethnic minority communities differently.

The National Crime Agency launched Operation Stovewood, the largest of its kind in the UK, to probe the Rotherham gangs and has so far secured long prison terms for around 30 individuals.

Over 1,000 victims

An independent inquiry commissioned by the local authority in Telford, western England, into grooming gangs there estimated that there had been more than 1,000 victims over a 35-year period.

Another probe in Rochdale, near Manchester in the northwest, found courts there had sentenced around 40 men for sexual violence against 13 children, “at the mercy of a gang” between 2004 and 2013.

The report also identified 96 men still deemed a potential risk to children, adding that this is “only a proportion” of those involved in the abuse.

But why is Elon Musk targeting UK PM?

Elon Musk has honed in on Starmer’s record as head of the prosecution service for England and Wales between 2008 and 2013. The US billionaire has criticised Starmer’s government for not agreeing to hold a new public inquiry into the scandal.

Ministers argue Britain held “The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse”, which published 19 reports on 15 investigations covering various institutions, the last of which was released in October 2022.

However, critics say it did not focus enough on the grooming gangs.

“Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes. That’s what the inquiry would show,” Musk wrote Monday on his X platform.

Musk has also attacked safeguarding minister Jess Phillips for rejecting requests for an inquiry from the council in Oldham, another town near Manchester where gangs operated, saying she “deserves to be in prison”.

An independent inquiry in Oldham concluded that vulnerable children had been sexually exploited due to “serious failings” by the authorities, but was criticised for only focusing on the three-year period between 2011 and 2014.

The local authority asked the government in July to hold a deeper public inquiry but Phillips responded that “it is for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene.”

Starmer on Monday defended his record and slammed those “spreading lies” following days of hostile attacks from Musk. He said “a line had been crossed” following “serious threats” to Phillips.

What critics say

Critics claim Starmer wants to avoid a national inquiry because it could put the focus on his time as director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. The UK PM has defended his record, pointing out that he brought the “first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang” and changed the approach to dealing with similar cases.

Prof Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which reported in 2022, says “the time has passed” for another lengthy examination of grooming gangs.

(With inputs from PA media, AFP)