Musk tried to ‘undermine’ general election and ‘depose’ Starmer, MPs told

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Billionaire Elon Musk has used social media to “undermine” the general election and tried to “depose” Sir Keir Starmer, MPs have heard. Labour MP Johanna Baxter also accused the owner of X, formerly Twitter, of putting the safety of Home Office minister Jess Phillips “at risk” as she called on the Government to prevent “foreign interference” in British politics. Ms Baxter told MPs during Home Office questions: “Recently, the owner of social media site X has used his sizable platform to undermine the democratic result of last July’s general election, has stirred up hatred towards the member for Birmingham Yardley putting her safety at risk, and has sought mechanisms to depose the Prime Minister. She continued: “In doing so, will the Government amend the strategy to consider prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation as violence against women and girls?” Ms Phillips replied: “The violence against women and girls strategy that the Government will launch later this year will absolutely root adult sexual exploitation, which so often actually stems from childhood sexual exploitation, into the Government’s violence against women and girls strategy for the first time ever.” As Ms Phillips came under fire from the billionaire X owner, she was defended by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who said the Home Office minister has put the experience of grooming and trafficking victims “at the heart” of the department’s work on modern slavery, launched a national scheme so police and staff work together to spot when hotels are used as a site of child sexual exploitation, and set up the first child sexual exploitation service in the Black Country.