Elon Musk knows “absolutely nothing” about protecting women and girls, Jess Phillips said after the billionaire called her a “rape genocide apologist” and a “wicked witch.”
Speaking for the first time since Musk’s spate of abuse towards his 210 million followers on X, Phillips, the protection minister, said the comments had made her even more worried about her safety.
In an interview with ITV News, Phillips also defended his decision to refuse a council’s request for a second national investigation into so-called grooming gangs, saying a local process would achieve real change more quickly .
Phillips’ decision on Oldham council’s request for a national inquiry prompted Musk to focus on the issue of the grooming scandal in a string of British towns, including calling for Keir Starmer to be removed as Premier minister.
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it,” Phillips said when asked what she thought about Musk targeting her. “The things he says are so ridiculous that they make me go away first, what?
“But then you wake up and realize that he said that to millions of people, and you immediately feel like this is going to turn my world upside down and I have to try to limit the amount of time that this is the case.”
Phillips continued: “What bothers me the most is that it’s taking so much time from a man who knows absolutely nothing about the subject he’s talking about, when the only thing I want to do is being able to use all my brain power to focus on the hundreds of girls I have supported over the years who have been victims of grooming gangs and what needs to happen to improve their lives.
Asked if she had been tempted to agree to Oldham’s request for a new national inquiry, Phillips said that was her initial instinct, but then decided it was better to follow the model of a localized investigation which took place in Telford, reported in 2022.
She called the Telford report “the only one that has ever done anything to actually change the way the council, the local police, the local CPS [Crown Prosecution Service]» work.
Lashing out at senior Tories who condemned her decision, Phillips said she had been involved in helping victims in Telford before the inquest, adding: “I wonder to what extent Chris Philp or Kemi Badenoch have been involved or even read the published materials. of Telford, or indeed, any of the investigations that have already taken place.
Phillips said she would “base her decisions on evidence, not on a very rich man in America.”
When asked if the abuse had caused her to worry about her safety, Phillips said, “Of course I worry about my safety. And you must – anyone who has worked in the field of violence against women and girls. Risk is dynamic and I have to consider risks in my life and this is one of them right now.
In another interview with Sky News, Phillips was asked what his message to Musk would be, replying: “Go ahead, go ahead for Mars.” Elon Musk is going to be Elon Musk. I have bigger and more important things to think about.
