LIVE: UK PM Keir Starmer delivers plan to cut NHS waiting times

Keir Starmer is set to hit back at Elon Musk today in the increasingly bitter spat over his record on grooming gang cases. The PM will take questions after laying out NHS waiting list plans this morning - and is expected to mount a robust defence of his previous performance as director of public prosecutions. The tech billionaire, a key ally of returning US President Donald Trump, has been launching a blizzard of attacks on Sir Keir over the festive period. Mr Musk has claimed the premier was 'complicit' in allowing the gangs' activities to continue unchecked. This morning he posted on his X social media site that Sir Keir should be in 'prison' and asked followers whether America should 'liberate' Britain from its 'tyrannical government'. Sir Keir has faced questions in recent days over a 2009 decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to drop a major case against an alleged grooming gang in Rochdale. But he is expected to repeat comments from 2023 when he stressed he gave the 'green light' to the first prosecution of a gang of sexual predators in Rochdale.
The chairwoman of a previous inquiry that uncovered wide-ranging failings in how institutions protected children has said she is not seeking a new probe - but urged ministers to implement recommendations from her final report more than two years ago. 'Our mission is not to call for new inquiries but to advocate for the full implementation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse's recommendations. A Child Protection Authority is critical to this process,' said Professor Alexis Jay. Writing in yesterday's Mail on Sunday, Kemi Badenoch said an inquiry should 'identify the bodies that failed as well as the individuals who facilitated or ignored these crimes so they can be removed from their roles'. Nigel Farage also backed an inquiry – and said it was fair for Mr Musk to question what role, if any, Sir Keir had in decisions not to pursue serious allegations in Rochdale in 2009. Supporters point out that as DPP 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. Mr Musk also posted on X, which he owns, suggesting that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips 'deserves to be in prison' for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham and called her a 'rape genocide apologist'. Challenged about the criticism during a round of interviews this morning, health minister Karin Smyth told Times Radio: 'I think Keir will respond to that later. He is someone who has led the attack on the evil perpetrators of these crimes and supported victims.' Put to her that 'Elon Musk says that's not true', Ms Smyth responded: 'Well, he's wrong about that, isn't he? I think most people in this country know that, and even under the previous government previous committees of the House of Commons applauded Keir Starmer for his work as the director of public prosecutions and leading the way on tackling these evil perpetrators and supporting victims, and I think most of the country do know that. 'It would be more helpful if Mr Musk wanted to use his platform to support victims. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called Mr Musk's attacks on Ms Phillips a 'disgraceful smear' yesterday. She and the Prime Minister have an 'actual record of banging up rapists, paedophiles and sex offenders, so they don't need lectures from anyone else', he said. Social media platforms can help to clamp down on those grooming children online if Mr Musk wants to 'roll his sleeves up and actually do something about tackling violence against women and girls', he said.

[higherground]

Some of the people behind him, do not seem convinced