Sam Hancock
Live page editor

A morning that began with the prime minister announcing plans to reduce NHS waiting lists in England ended with him defending his record on prosecuting grooming gangs, following comments made by X owner Elon Musk.

Keir Starmer, addressing a room of journalists and health workers, said local diagnostic hubs and a greater use of the private sector would help to reduce the 7.5 million people currently waiting for treatments by nearly half a million over the next year.

Our health colleagues have delved into the plan, its pledges and the reaction so far.

In a follow-up Q&A session, Starmer was asked about the new health commitments but he was also pressed on a row over whether there should be a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation. It comes after Musk recently accused the PM of being "complicit in the rape of Britain" during his tenure as director of public prosecutions (DPP).

Starmer, who as DPP introduced a special prosecutor for child abuse and sexual exploitation, said his record was there for all to see - and he attacked those "spreading lies and misinformation".

For more on that, our politics colleagues have looked at the scrutiny Starmer has faced and what his response has been. There's also some handy analysis from our political editor Chris Mason, looking at Musk's influence on Westminster as 2025 gets under way.

We're ending our political live coverage there for today, thanks for following along.

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Scotland's First Minister John Swinney used a speech in Edinburgh this morning to call for opposition parties to pass the Scottish Budget, or risk playing into the hands of Elon Musk.

Musk has made several high-profile statements on UK politics in recent days, and has previously been involved in a racism row with former first minister Humza Yousaf.

MSPs are set to vote on the government's tax and spending plans next month. The minority SNP administration will require the help of MSPs from at least one other party to see its bill be voted into law.

"If the Budget doesn't pass, then I think we're playing right into the hands of Elon Musk and other populists," Swinney said.

"I think we're playing right into their hands because we're demonstrating, or the political system is demonstrating, that it can't address people's day-to-day concerns."

The SNP leader added he did not have a "direct line" with Musk and was not seeking one.

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We're yet to hear Conservatives respond to what Keir Starmer said this morning - including his criticism that the Tories had failed to implement recommendations made in Alexis Jay’s 2022 report into child sexual abuse.

But we have now heard from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who focused on the prime minister's NHS announcement rather than the row over grooming gangs.

"Cutting hospital waiting lists is essential, but this announcement cannot come at the expense of those patients who are lying on trolleys in hospital corridors or in the back of an ambulance for hours on end," Davey says.

But, he goes on: "We can only end these awful scenes by rescuing social care... until that happens, we will not have the beds available to cut A&E waiting times and these annual winter crises will continue."

1. Keir Starmer announced that more NHS hubs will be set up in community locations and there will be greater use of the private sector to help reduce hospital waiting lists in England. He also promised to give patients more choice over where they get treated as he unveiled plans to tackle the NHS backlog.
2. After outlining his proposals, the prime minister faced a series of questions from journalists about grooming gangs and why the government is not ordering a fresh national inquiry into child sexual abuse. Starmer said another inquiry isn't needed, rather the recommendations made in previous inquiries need to be implemented.
3. He was pressed on comments made by Elon Musk, who called the UK's safeguarding minister Jess Phillips a "rape genocide apologist". Starmer defended Phillips, saying she had done a thousand times more for victims than her critics had ever dreamed of, while also criticising "those spreading lies and misinformation".

Many of the questions put to the prime minister focused on recent comments made by Elon Musk. For those who've missed it, here's a brief timeline of what's happened:

In the past few days, tech multi-billionaire Musk hit out at the UK's safeguarding minister and the Labour government.

The issue goes back to October last year, when Jess Phillips rejected Oldham Council's request for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation - saying the council should lead it instead.

After this decision was reported by GB News on 1 January, the backlash began.

On 2 January, opposition and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called for a full national public inquiry into the UK's "rape gangs scandal".

And the day after on 3 January, Musk called Phillips a "rape genocide apologist" as well as criticising Keir Starmer for failing to prosecute gangs.

Then this morning, Musk wrote a flurry of posts on X criticising the UK government, with one poll asking: "America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government (yes or no)".

Starmer, without mentioning Musk directly, then criticised "those spreading lies and misinformation" in response to questions over child grooming gangs.

Earlier Keir Starmer criticised "those spreading lies and misinformation", accusing them of not being interested in victims but only of themselves.

The PM was responding to a question about Elon Musk's recent attacks on his handling of child rape cases, although he did not criticise Musk individually.

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Let's bring you a flavour of some of the final few questions put to the prime minister.

On the NHS, he's asked: What's truly radical about his new plan? Starmer replies that NHS staff are now on the front line, not the picket line - a reference to the fact NHS workers were striking under the last government, but Labour reached a deal with doctors within first six months of government.

What about the prospect of another wave of NHS strikes? The PM says the government will work with NHS staff and unions to address pay and will go through the usual process of pay reviews.

And one more on Musk. Given his role in the incoming Trump administration, does Starmer see his comments so far as a sign of what's to come? The prime minister responds that the grooming gangs row has put his safeguarding minister at risk and that all MPs have a responsibility to "denounce what's been said" about Jess Phillips.

Keir Starmer is answering a question from GB News who quizzes him on child grooming gangs and why the government is not ordering a new public inquiry into the issue.

Starmer reiterates that his record as director of public prosecutions is available to the public, adding: "I changed the system because I could see some of the things that were going wrong."

"The victims here suffered terrible abuse," he says, "and then they weren't listened to".

He adds "there have been a lot of reviews...including localised reviews" into child grooming gangs.

The prime minister agrees that "no stone should be left unturned" but says "action" is now required.

"Why didn't the last government implement the Jay requirements?", he asks referring to the Jay Report, an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

That's a wrap on the questions to the PM in Surrey. We've still got a few more responses to bring you, so stay tuned for those in our next post. We'll then bring you a round-up of the key takeaways from his speech and the subsequent Q&A.

The next question is from ITV's Robert Peston, who says he has spoken to NHS leaders who are worried they don't have the capacity to deal with the government's plan to cut waiting lists.

Peston asks whether the new agreement with the private sector will help with that, or will they have to recruit more people from abroad.

Starmer says there's always a challenge with staffing and resources, which is why they invested in more resources in the Budget.

He says the agreement with the private sector is not a "substitution or alternative" to the NHS.

Peston's second question is whether Starmer is planning legal action against Elon Musk.

The PM replies that "once we lose the anchor that truth matters, we are on a slippery slope".

An impassioned response from Starmer to Musk's commentspublished at 10:46 Greenwich Mean Time 6 January

10:46 GMT 6 January

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

I think that lives up to the “full-throated” defence from Keir Starmer of his record on grooming gangs we were told to expect.

The multi-minute castigation of those “spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible” was perhaps the most impassioned Starmer has ever been in his time as prime minister.

There were broadly three prongs to what the prime minister said. First he defended his record as director of public prosecutions, saying he “changed the whole prosecution approach”, resulting in the highest number of child sexual abuse cases ever prosecuted.

Second, he criticised people spreading what he termed lies and supporting Tommy Robinson, saying it showed that they were not actually interested in victims or in justice.

And third, he tore into those who have attacked Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, saying she had “done a thousand times more” for victims than they had “ever dreamt about”.

At no point in this response did the words “Elon Musk” pass the prime minister’s lips. Clearly he was trying to thread the needle of making his case without risking (further) antagonising not only the richest man in the world but someone who is at the heart of the incoming US president’s team.

Yet it is the unavoidable reality that each of the three prongs of Starmer’s case were responding to arguments which Musk has made.

The prime minister suggested that his criticisms were addressed primarily at Conservative politicians, for example for not implementing the recommendations of Alexis Jay’s report, and others on the right of British politics. Whether that is sustainable over the coming hours and days may depend on what Musk posts next.

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The prime minister is next asked about Elon Musk's comments about safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.

Musk posted messages on his social media site X saying Phillips should be jailed and called her a "rape genocide apologist", as well as criticising Starmer for failing to prosecute gangs.

It came after Phillips rejected a request for the government to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.

Starmer says: "Child sexual exploitation is utterly sickening. For many years, too many victims have been completely let down."

He defends his record and says he tackled the issue "head on" as director of public prosecutions.

He goes on to say: "Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they're interested in themselves."

The PM also defends Phillips, saying she has done "1,000 times more than they've even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse".

Keir Starmer is now taking questions from the press.

First up is the BBC's health editor Hugh Pym who asks why Labour is focusing only on the waiting list for planned treatment, instead of other parts of the health service such as A&E.

He also asks for reaction to Elon Musk's post on X, where he asked in a poll whether America should liberate the people of Britain from their "tyrannical government".

Starmer says this new plan has been agreed with the NHS, and rejects the idea that dealing with planned treatment isn't dealing with the wider issues that the NHS faces.

"The fact we have a plan in action today doesn't mean we aren't going to be doing the other things," he adds, mentioning that Labour will be publishing their 10-year-plan for the NHS "in due course".

On Musk, he says he has no comment.

The prime minister says he welcomes a "new agreement" to expand the relationship between the NHS and the private healthcare sector.

He says this will enable the spaces and resources of the private healthcare sector to be made available to the NHS, where it is needed most.

Starmer describes this as a partnership in the "national interest" to cut waiting times and deliver the government's plan for change.

The PM goes on to dismiss critics of Labour's plan as "they've been wrong at every stage".

"This year we will show Britain can change...politics can be a force for good and we can unite the NHS behind a plan for reform," he adds.

During his speech in Surrey, Starmer says that his new plans will deliver around 450,000 extra appointments.

He says people will be able to do some tests at home and he talks about the role AI can play in making the NHS more efficient, saying it can pick up on inaccuracies in record-keeping.

NHS staff are working harder than ever, but the state of the health service means this isn't making a difference, Starmer continues.

This is what he wants to change, the PM explains, including "shifting care" away from hospitals and into the community.

As we mentioned in our earlier post outlining the government's plan, a network of Community Diagnostic Centres, which provide appointments such as scans and endoscopies in local neighbourhoods, will extend their opening hours to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

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The prime minister goes on to reiterate his pledge to put innovation at the forefront of the NHS.

"We are well placed for the AI revolution in healthcare," he says.

But Starmer says the NHS cannot become a "national money pit" and mentions the need to improve productivity.

"I will fight for the NHS," he adds, to applause from healthcare workers.

Starmer says the goal for his government this year is to rebuild Britain, and that the NHS is the cornerstone of that.

"We need an NHS that is reformed from top to bottom," he says, adding that the plan being announced today is a sign of that happening.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer begins his speech by thanking health workers and wishing them a happy new year.

He acknowledges how the term "Christmas break" doesn't involve an actual break for many working today, and thanks them for the lives they are saving every day.

Image source, PA Media

The prime minister is up now, speaking in front of a crowd of health workers and a big board that reads "plan for change".

We'll bring you what he says line by line right here, but remember you can watch live for yourself at the top of this page.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

It is notable that Sir Keir Starmer is dedicating his first public intervention of 2025 to the NHS.

Notable but perhaps unsurprising. After all, there is little more important to this government’s fortunes than the state of the NHS.

The prime minister will be grilled today on the details of his announcement - on how exactly his plans to beef up community diagnostic centres and to offer patients more flexibility on where they are treated will work.

But, in time, what will matter much more is not details but impressions: the impressions of those who use the NHS about whether it is adequate, and whether it is more or less adequate than when the Conservatives were in charge.

Speak to Labour strategists and it is usually put in fairly stark terms. If the NHS gets tangibly better on their watch over the coming years they ought to win re-election. If it does not, they are in deep trouble.

You'll be able to follow the speech at the top of this page - just click Watch Live