A man has been charged with sending malicious communications to safeguarding minister and Birmingham MP Jess Phillips amid criticism from X owner Elon Musk. Jack Bennett, aged 39 and from Devon, is charged with sending malicious communications between April 2024 and January 2025 to three people, including the Yardley MP.
So far this month, Mr Musk said Ms Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham and branded her a “rape genocide apologist”. Bennett, from Seaton, has been bailed to appear before Exeter Magistrates’ Court on February 18.
On Monday, the Prime Minister suggested a “line has been crossed” with comments that have led to threats against the minister “and others”. Speaking in Surrey, the Prime Minister said: “Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody else to speak on her behalf, but when the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book, a line has been crossed.
“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies, not on those who are so desperate for attention that they’re prepared to debase themselves and their country. So this Government will get on with the job of protecting victims, including child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting, accelerating the processes.
“But what I won’t tolerate is this discussion, debate based on lies without calling it out. What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention, when those politicians sat in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it. Now, so desperate for attention that they’re amplifying what the far-right is saying.”