“There comes a point where we no longer need further investigation,” Wynne argued. “If Elon Musk had really been paying attention to what was happening in this country, he might have acknowledged that there had already been investigations.”
A 2014 state-commissioned report by senior social worker Alexis Jay found that around 1,400 vulnerable children were targeted and sexually abused in the northern English town of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. Jay blasted the “collective failures” of the care system and said local authorities had failed. to confront perpetrators of abuse of Pakistani descent, in part because some staff members feared being labeled racist.
The conclusions of this report and a subsequent local investigation into exploitation in the town of Oldham, have since become rallying points for figures on the right of British politics, including British reformist insurgent leader Nigel Farage, who has sought Musk’s support.
“Misjudged”
Gwynne’s boss, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, offered Musk an olive branch in a later interview.
He said on Friday that Elon Musk’s criticism was “ill-judged and certainly ill-informed” – and stressed that the UK government wanted to cooperate with tech giants to tackle child sexual exploitation.
“We are ready to work with Elon Musk, who I think has an important role to play with his social media platform in helping us and other countries address this serious issue,” Streeting told ITV News. “If he wants to work with us and roll up his sleeves, we would be happy to do so.”