British minister fears for her safety after Musk’s comments on X turned ‘her world upside down’

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has spoken about her fears for her safety after Elon Musk unleashed a torrent of abuse against her over the child grooming scandal. Phillips has spent much of her career working with victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking.

Phillips found herself at the centre of an international storm when she decided not to agree to a national inquiry into child grooming and rape across towns in the north of England because one had already been conducted. The attacks were led by the X social media platform boss who described her as “a witch” and a “rape genocide apologist”.

Musk and opposition politicians have called for a new national inquiry into the scandals after Phillips told the council of a town where sex abuse cases were reported that it should hold its own investigation. Speaking to broadcaster ITV, Phillips said Musk's comments, which she described as "ridiculous", turned her "world upside down".

"It's not great and the thing that annoys me the most about it is that it takes so much bandwidth of my time from a man who knows absolutely nothing about the subject he is talking about," Phillips said. Speaking to ITV News, she said: “Of course I worry about my safety. Of course, and you have to, you know, anyone who has worked in the fields of violence against women and girls. Risk is dynamic and I have to take account of the risks in my life and this is one of them currently.”

She said the American billionaire knew "absolutely nothing" about the child sexual abuse scandals he has recently been commenting on. In another interview with Sky News, Phillips said she has dedicated her life to fighting child exploitation and it was "painful" to watch it become "political football". Musk, an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, has spent days posting messages on his social media site X accusing Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs of men who raped young girls when Starmer was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.

Starmer defended his work as Britain's top prosecutor on Monday, addressing Musk's criticism and saying that "those spreading lies and misinformation...are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves". Responding to Starmer's criticism, Musk said on X the prime minister was "deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes", adding: "That's what the inquiry would show."

The Tesla boss has launched a series of baseless attacks on the Labour government over grooming gangs, while also calling for the release of jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson – a development which also saw him turn on Reform leader Nigel Farage on Sunday, claiming he “does not have what it takes” to lead the party.

Other investigations into child abuse scandals have been carried out in different areas of northern England. A broader nationwide public inquiry into child sexual abuse, including within churches and schools, reported in 2022, making a number of recommendations which have not yet been implemented.

Sky News reported on Monday a man had been charged following threats towards Phillips. Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed a man had been charged with three counts of malicious communication between April 2024 and January 2025 but did not name the victims.

Agencies