Starmer slaps down Musk and points the finger at Badenoch

It wasn’t quite Hugh Grant at the end of Love Actually, but Keir Starmer’s response to the berserk bullying of Elon Musk was near-perfect.

There was steel in the slap-down; a measured disgust. In passing for Musk, but principally for those who piggybacked his social media hate-mongering. Those British politicians who, in his words, “are so desperate for attention that they are prepared to debase themselves and their country.”

Starmer talked about Tory politicians sitting in office for 14 years, doing nothing about the public inquiry recommendations to combat rape-grooming gangs yet today were “jumping on the bandwagon… amplifying what the far right is saying.”

Yes, Kemi Badenoch, that’s you.

With more than a touch of sadness in his voice, he pointed out how, until very recently, it is inconceivable that Musk’s incendiary, ignorant and dangerous attack on Jess Phillips would not have gone without immediate rebuke from all leaders of British political parties.

And that what we got instead – not condemnation but amplification from the Tories and Reform – is a signal something fundamental has gone awry in our democracy.

“It’s about the nature of our politics,” he said. “Once we lose the anchor that truth matters… then we are on a very slippery slope.”

Keir Starmer didn’t start this repellent political land-grab, but today he exposed how it’s been exploited by political leaders who have a duty to do better.

“Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they’re not interested in the victims, they’re interested in themselves,” he said.

Specifically on the attack against Phillips, Starmer was – albeit belatedly, since more than three days have elapsed since Musk tweeted she was a “genocidal rape apologist” – commendably clear.

“Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they have dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse, throughout her career.

“When the poison of the far right leads to serious threats to Jess Philips and others, then in my book a line has been crossed.”

The slap-down came at the end of a speech about reducing NHS waiting lists; something, Starmer said, the public care a damn sight more about than they do over a meds-addled demi-trillionaire polling X on whether the US should invade the UK. Not precisely his words, but let’s hope the substance is correct.

Reinstalling a sense of pride in this broken country and its neglected institutions, a sense that we are a nation on the up and not one inescapably sucked into a sinkhole of populism and anger, must be Starmer’s mission. In the first six months of his premiership, on that score, he has failed.

Perhaps today will prove something of a turning point; a reminder that, in the words of Love Actually’s prime minister, “we may be a small country. But we’re a great one too… and a friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. Since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward I will be prepared to be much stronger.”

From now onward, prime minister Keir Starmer will have to be stronger. After today, at the very least, we know he can play the part.

The New European’s mission is to resist the rise of corrosive nationalism and right-wing extremism that today challenges our democracies and way of life on all sides. If you believe in our values, support us by subscribing for a little more than £1 a week, less than the price of a bottle of water. Join us today.