European leaders hit back in Elon Musk meddling row

European leaders expressed growing frustration with tech billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, as a major row escalated between members of Britain's government and US president-elect Donald Trump's key ally.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer slammed those "spreading lies and misinformation" following days of incendiary posts by Musk on his X platform over historical sex offences against children in northern England.

Musk, who is set for a role in Trump's administration, then accused the centre-left Labour leader of being "deeply complicit in the mass rapes" and "utterly despicable".

European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron have also weighed in against Musk.

He said the SpaceX boss was "directly intervening in elections", including in Germany where Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned the Tesla boss for backing an extreme-right party.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Monday he found it "worrying" that someone with so much wealth and influence was getting involved in the politics of European countries.

Much of Musk's focus in recent days has been on Britain and historical scandals involving grooming gangs that first emerged during Starmer's 2008-2013 tenure as the country's top prosecutor.

The comments pose a major challenge for Starmer's government, as it tries to fend off growing support for the far-right while also seeking to maintain good relations with Trump's incoming administration.

Musk's tirade, which included demands for a new public inquiry into the scandal, has prompted some UK opposition politicians to join in the criticism and call for a fresh national probe.

- 'Lies' -

The issue has long been seized upon by far-right figures including the imprisoned Tommy Robinson, one of Britain's best known far-right agitators, whom Musk has praised and said should be released from jail.

Responding to media questions on the topic, Starmer insisted he was "not going to individualise this to Elon Musk" but said "a line has been crossed" with some of the online criticism.

"Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they're not interested in victims, they're interested in themselves," Starmer told reporters, without naming Musk.

"I'm prepared to call out this for what it is. We've seen this playbook many times: the whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it."

The grooming scandal involved the widespread abuse of girls in northern English towns, including Rochdale, Rotherham and Oldham.

A series of court cases eventually led to the conviction of dozens of men, mostly of South Asian origin. The victims were vulnerable, mostly white, girls.

Subsequent official reports into how police and social workers failed to halt the abuse in some cases found that officials turned a blind eye to avoid appearing racist.

None of the probes singled out Starmer for blame or found that he had tried to block prosecutions.

- 'Erratic' -

The issue reignited this month after it was reported that UK minister Jess Phillips had rejected Oldham council's request for a government-led inquiry in favour of a locally led investigation.

Musk has called Phillips a "rape genocide apologist" and said she "deserves to be in prison".

Starmer has rejected calls by the main opposition Conservative party and the hard-right Reform UK party for a new public inquiry, saying an earlier independent probe had been "comprehensive".

Starmer said he had dealt with the problem "head-on" as a prosecutor and oversaw "the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record".

But Musk claimed Monday that Starmer and former prime minister Gordon Brown were among those complicit in the sex crimes, adding in one post that Brown "sold those little girls for votes".

"Prison for Starmer," he said in another.

Scholz on Saturday condemned Musk for "erratic" comments after the billionaire labelled the German leader an "incompetent fool" and came out in support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of snap elections on February 23.

Musk surprised many people in Britain on Sunday when he appeared to U-turn on his support for Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage, saying his anti-immigration Reform party "needs a new leader".

© Agence France-Presse