Elon Musk's online attacks against former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown regarding grooming gangs are grounded on an unsupported assertion concerning a Home Office memo supposedly circulated 17 years ago, according to research conducted by BBC Verify.
Numerous social media posts, some shared by Mr. Musk, claim that a 2008 Home Office document advised police not to intervene in cases of child grooming due to victims having "made an informed choice about their sexual behavior." However, BBC Verify's thorough investigation of Home Office circulars issued during that time period found no evidence supporting the existence of any such document.
Mr. Brown, who served as prime minister in 2008, refuted the allegations as "a complete fabrication," with the Home Office emphasizing that there is "no truth" to these claims. References to a memo on social media containing phrases like "informed choice" or similar iterations have circulated for a number of years, gaining traction particularly since the beginning of the year.
The spread of these claims skyrocketed after Mr. Musk amplified several posts on his social media platform, X, with one particular post garnering over 25 million views alleging that "Gordon Brown sold those little girls for votes." However, the Home Office's records indicate no such circular to police forces ever existed.
Statements made by Nazir Afzal, former Crown Prosecution Service chief prosecutor for the north-west of England, to the BBC on 19 October 2018, seem to have been the origin of the baseless claims. Mr. Afzal had initially mentioned the existence of the purported circular but later confirmed that he hadn't seen it himself.
BBC Verify uncovered the initial post alluding to Mr. Afzal's claim about the circular a month following that interview, with broader attention gained in July 2019. Despite subsequent posts across various platforms, accountability for law enforcement actions during that time remains a topic of intense scrutiny.
The Home Office maintains that no directive was ever issued instructing police to refrain from pursuing grooming gangs. Similarly, former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith rebuked the assertion that the Home Office had given any such directive during her term in 2008.
Assertions linking Mr. Brown to alleged instructions not to prosecute grooming gangs were based on misinterpretations of past statements made by Mr. Afzal and campaigner Maggie Oliver. While efforts have been made to trace sources repeating these claims, to date, no concrete evidence validating the existence of such a circular has been located.