Sir Keir Starme giving a speech on slashing NHS waiting times (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer rolled up his sleeves for his first day back to school. Instead of a classroom, he headed for the maze-like corridors of Epsom Hospital in Surrey.
The Prime Minister may have wanted to banish the holiday blues by talking about the NHS and the Government’s latest plans to slash its waiting list.
But there was a long, long list of other topics hogging the headlines. At the top of it? .
Before he answered any questions from the press assembled in the clinic’s canteen, the PM turned to his Health Secretary Wes Streeting in search of a pen to take notes.
It seems even he forgot to pack his pencils for the first lesson of the new year.
Sir Keir initially tried to brush away a question about the tech billionaire by suggesting he had little to say about Mr Musk’s claims about child exploitation in Britain.
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It turned out the Prime Minister had a lot more to talk about on the issue when he gave an impassioned five-and-a-half minute speech, with the help of a trusty autocue, which appeared to accuse Musk of “spreading lies” and being “desperate for attention”.
Sir Keir looked furious while warning “a line has been crossed” when safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and others received serious threats because of the “poison of the far-right”.
The gloves have well and truly come off and one thing is crystal clear – Musk vs Starmer shows no signs of ending soon.
The Tesla boss was quick to the keyboard after Sir Keir’s remarks to claim the former director of public prosecutions was “deeply complicit” in the grooming scandal.
Taking to his own platform X, formerly Twitter, Mr Musk said: “Starmer is utterly despicable.”
Mr Streeting, who nodded like a bobblehead on a dashboard through Sir Keir’s remarks, suggested Mr Musk should have a “social media detox” as a new year’s resolution.
Also in the Prime Minister’s intray – which has been piling up in his absence during a holiday abroad – were questions about City Minister Tulip Siddiq who he said has referred herself to the sleaze watchdog over her ties to Bangladesh’s deposed regime.
This is just the start of the political storms brewing for Sir Keir in 2025.