Nigel Farage has defended Elon Musk after the billionaire attacked the UK government’s response to grooming gangs on X, the social media platform he owns.

In a series of posts over several days, Musk suggested Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute gangs and said Home Office minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison”.

It came as the Home Office defended its decision to reject a request for it to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. The Conservatives and Reform UK have called for a wider national inquiry.

Asked about Musk’s comments on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Farage said he had used “very tough terms” but that “free speech was back” on X under his ownership.

The Reform UK leader was also pressed on his wider relationship with Musk, who is said to be considering donating money to his party.

Musk’s latest intervention on UK politics came after Phillips, a safeguarding minister within the Home Office, instructed Oldham Council to launch its own local inquiry into historic child sexual abuse in the town, similar to inquiries set up in Rochdale and Telford. The local authority had called for a government-led inquiry.

The tech tycoon seized on the decision, which was taken in October, and began heavily criticising the British government online.

He suggested Sir Keir had failed to properly prosecute rape gangs while director of public prosecutions (DPP), and has repeatedly shared posts from Reform and Conservative MPs calling for a national inquiry.

Musk, who is a key advisor to incoming US President Donald Trump, called the prime minister “two-tier Keir” and accused Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist”.

On Saturday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended Phillips as “fearless and formidable” and someone who has campaigned “tirelessly for justice for those badly let down by endemic institutional failure” for many years.

Asked about the comments, Farage said “tough things get said… by both sides of the debate”.

He continued: “This man happens to be the richest man in the world, but equally, the fact that he’s bought Twitter now actually gives us a place where we can have a proper open debate about many things… We may find it offensive, but it’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Earlier this week, Farage distanced himself from Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson – a far-right activist who is serving a jail term for committing contempt of court.

In an interview broadcast on BBC One on Sunday morning, Farage said the public is “absolutely right to be” angry about grooming gangs.

He went on: “I just think people ask themselves, what has happened to our country? How could this possibly have happened? Why did everybody want to cover it up? Why has there been no full public inquiry?”

In a letter seen by the BBC, Phillips and Cooper wrote to the Conservatives setting out why they had asked Oldham Council to set up its own inquiry, rather than grant its request for a government-led one. The previous Conservative government turned down a similar request in 2022.

The letter pointed out the local authority had already started setting up its own inquiry, and added that victims have said “loud and clear” they want action.

“In Oldham the crimes committed by grooming gangs were horrific,” they wrote.

“Young girls were abused in the most cruel and sadistic way. Victims and the community need to know that all steps are taken to deliver justice and protect children properly in the future.”

They said they supported an independent review commissioned by Mayor Andy Burnham, which covered historic abuse in Oldham and led to a new police investigation, as well as other child protection work across Greater Manchester.

The letter highlighted the work of the Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry, which published its final findings in 2022. It made clear that “abuse must be pursued and challenged everywhere with no fear or favour” – whether in care homes, churches, homes or by grooming gangs.

Professor Alexis Jay, who led that inquiry, said in November she felt “frustrated” that none of its 20 recommendations to tackle abuse had been implemented more than two years later.

On Friday, Health Secretary West Streeting said the government was getting “on with the job” of implementing the recommendations “in full” since taking office in July.

There have been several investigations into grooming gangs in various parts of England, including Rotherham, Bristol, Cornwall and Derbyshire.

An inquiry into abuse in Rotherham found 1,400 children had been sexually abused over a 16-year period, predominantly by British Pakistani men.

An investigation in Telford found that up to 1,000 girls had been abused over 40 years – and that some cases had not been investigated because of “nervousness about race”.

Police figures from 2023 reveal that group-based child sexual abuse accounted for 3.7% of all sexual offences against children reported to police.

According to the data, 26% of group-based child sexual abuse happened within families, compared with 17% involving groups including grooming gangs.