A Tameside councillor has accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of “whipping up hatred” over his recent comments about grooming gang “misinformation”.
Councillor Liam Billington criticised the Prime Minister’s response to the ongoing grooming gang scandal in a press conference today, where the Labour leader launched a fresh attack on the “far-right”.
Starmer hit back at critics in a press conference about the Government’s plan to cut NHS waiting times, condemning those “spreading lies and misinformation” over grooming gangs.
In a pointed criticism, he accused Conservative MPs of “amplifying what the far-right is saying” on child sexual abuse.
Councillor Liam Billington accused Starmer of ‘whipping up hatred’ following his remarks
GB News / PA
He suggested the Tories were “jumping on a bandwagon” to gain attention after failing to act “for 14 long years.”
The Labour leader is facing increasing pressure on the grooming gang scandal after Elon Musk accused Starmer of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” during his time as director of public prosecutions.
Answering GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope’s question on the scandal, Starmer defended his role within the public prosecutions sector. He said: “You looked at my record for five years with me as I was doing the job.
“I actually changed the system because I could see some of the things that were going wrong. Unlike some Tory politicians tweeting about it or talking about it, I got on with changing it.”
The Prime Minister hit out at those ‘spreading lies and misinformation’ in a fresh attack on the ‘far-right’
PA
Speaking to GB News, Billington questioned the lack of accountability for victims who have experienced “serious miscarriages of justice.”
“It has been swept under the carpet, and there are people that do need to face real actions on this, whether it be police, the councils and these perpetrators themselves who have carried out these heinous crimes,” he said.
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Councillor Billington also drew parallels between Starmer’s response and previous reactions to the Southport stabbings.
Billington stated: “What I would say on Keir Starmer, the tone what he’s setting in blaming the far-right and misinformation is exactly the same as what we heard over the Southport stabbings. And I think he’s trying to whip up hatred again.”
In defence of Jess Phillips, Starmer declared that he is “proud” of his “colleague and friend”, taking aim at those “attacking” the Safeguarding Minister.
“Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they’ve even dreamt about on protecting victims of sexual abuse throughout her entire career,” the Prime Minister said.
Councillor Billington told GB News that there needs to be ‘accountability’ for the sake of grooming gang victims
GB News
Addressing Elon Musk’s several attacks on Starmer and the Labour Government, the PM made clear that they will “get on with the job” of protecting “victims of child sexual abuse”.
He added: “This Government will get on with the job of protecting victims, including of child sexual abuse… What I won’t tolerate is discussion and debate based on lies.
“What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon to get attention.
“They sat in Government for 14 years, tweeting, talking, not doing anything about it. That has to be taken seriously. We have to do everything we possibly can to make sure that never happens again.”
