Is Starmer leaving the door open to an abuse inquiry?

“He’s deranged!”

So said a cabinet minister to me, describing Elon Musk.

The anger and exasperation at the heart of government about the world’s richest man is palpable.

The flurry – or slurry, as his critics see it – of social media posts from Mr Musk include not just gratuitous insults and ignorance, but falsehoods.

But it is also true that they have turbocharged a public conversation about child sexual abuse in the UK, and catapulted a debate about whether there should be a new public inquiry to the top of the agenda.

As he would see it, the prime minister has sought to re-rationalise the conversation around verifiable facts and take the heat out of it.

He repeatedly suggested in the Commons that it was reasonable for some to believe a public inquiry was necessary. He does not think that.

Sir Keir Starmer also set out his track record as Director of Public Prosecutions in an attempt to demolish the idea that he either didn’t care about the issue or was complicit in not addressing it.

His supporters are boiling with rage at what they see as the outrageous injustice of the PM being denigrated on an issue he was one of the first to address, when he ran the Crown Prosecution Service.

But he also sought to denigrate the Opposition today for seeking to oppose and ask awkward questions, which is their very role.

Downing Street argue that another public inquiry would further delay making changes that could protect children now.

They base this argument on precedent – the lack of delivery of the changes recommended by the national independent inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay.

But the prime minister’s official spokesman struggled to give us an example of precisely what would be delayed now if a public inquiry was set up.

And, intriguingly, No10 appear to be leaving the door open to change their mind.

Part of their posture and language looks like an attempt to calm the tone and tenor of the debate.

But it is also true that they are not categorically ruling out a U-turn.

This comes as the Conservatives and Reform double down on their demands for an inquiry, with the Tories setting up an online petition to try to harvest public opinion on the issue in order to heap more pressure on ministers.

The Conservatives face repeated accusations of opportunism, but can and do point to the number of inquiries the prime minister called for in opposition.

They claim the absence of one will mean people “may start to worry about a cover-up”.

Sir Keir hit back that this amounted to “lies and misinformation and slinging of mud”.

Oh and who has popped up again on X to endorse Kemi Badenoch’s position?

Elon Musk.