
Elon Musk’s on-line assaults on former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown over grooming gangs draw on a baseless declare a few House Workplace memo supposedly issued 17 years in the past, analysis by ORIONEWS Confirm has established.
A wave of social media posts – together with some amplified by Mr Musk – allege {that a} 2008 House Workplace doc suggested police to not intervene in little one grooming instances as a result of victims had “made an knowledgeable alternative about their sexual behaviour”.
However ORIONEWS Confirm has carried out intensive searches of House Workplace circulars issued throughout that interval and located no proof that any doc containing this recommendation exists.
Brown – who was prime minister in 2008 – has referred to as the allegations “a whole fabrication” and the House Workplace says there “has by no means been any reality” to them.
‘Knowledgeable alternative’
Social media posts referencing a memo and utilizing both the phrase “knowledgeable alternative” or a variation like “way of life alternative” have circulated for a number of years with some gaining traction.
However that intensified dramatically because the begin of the yr, with posts repeating the declare producing tens of tens of millions of views up to now week after Mr Musk amplified a number of of them on his social media platform, X.
In a single put up, which has acquired over 25 million views, Mr Musk alleged that “Gordon Brown bought these little women for votes” whereas reposting one other consumer, June Slater, utilizing phrases that have been apparently a variation of the memo declare.

The unique unfounded declare a few House Workplace round to police appears to stem from an interview Nazir Afzal – the previous Crown Prosecution Service chief prosecutor for north-west England – gave to the ORIONEWS on 19 October 2018. He now admits that he had not seen any such round himself, regardless of apparently stating its existence as reality.
Talking to ORIONEWS Radio 4’s PM programme, he instructed presenter Carolyn Quinn on the time:
“You could not know this, however again in 2008 the House Workplace despatched a round to all police forces within the nation saying ‘so far as these younger women who’re being exploited of their cities and cities we consider they’ve made an knowledgeable alternative about their sexual behaviour and due to this fact it is not for you cops to get entangled in”.
Though the programme is now not obtainable to hearken to on the ORIONEWS’s web site, a model has been uploaded to YouTube. ORIONEWS Confirm has additionally accessed the programme by way of the ORIONEWS’s in-house archives to verify the audio is real.
The primary put up referencing Mr Afzal’s declare seems to have been made one month after his interview, ORIONEWS Confirm has discovered. However the first put up to realize appreciable traction was in July 2019.
Since then posts with variations of the declare have circulated often on X and different platforms, with some posts from bigger accounts in 2024 getting extra consideration, earlier than intensifying massively in latest days.
Misinterpreted directions
Talking to ORIONEWS Confirm, Mr Afzal clarified his place admitting that he has by no means seen any round with the type of phrases that he utilized in his 2018 interview.
As an alternative he now says he was referring to cops who had instructed him some officers had misinterpreted directions in a round despatched by the House Workplace.
Mr Afzal pointed us to House Workplace round 017/2008 which is in regards to the police’s powers beneath the 1989 Youngsters’s Act.
Nevertheless, the phrases “knowledgeable alternative” don’t seem wherever within the textual content, neither is the round about little one grooming gangs.
It does comprise, nevertheless, a piece on learn how to decide important hurt to a toddler. “It is vital at all times to take account of the kid’s reactions, and his or her perceptions, based on the kid’s age and understanding,” it reads.
It appears obscure how any police officer may misconstrue this part in the best way Mr Afzal described in his 2018 interview
He instructed ORIONEWS Confirm he was “paraphrasing what I assumed that meant to them”, when he gave his Radio 4 interview.
Requested how officers may have interpreted round 17/2008 on this means, Mr Afzal stated:
“You are proper, it does not stack up. It does not give an excuse or clarification, however I am unable to offer you every other round.”

ORIONEWS Confirm additionally requested Mr Afzal if he may put us in contact with any of the officers which will have misinterpreted the round in means he described, however he was unable to do that.
Mr Afzal’s declare was not a one off. One yr earlier than his 2018 interview, Mr Afzal wrote an article for the Worldwide Enterprise Instances the place he additionally said the declare as reality:
“The time period “little one prostitute” was used extensively to explain them and it needs to be famous each that the House Workplace in a round to police in 2008 used that time period and spoke of women making an “knowledgeable alternative” to interact on this behaviour. Parliament solely lastly eliminated the time period from all legal guidelines a few years in the past.”
Regardless of curiosity within the declare going again a number of years we have now been unable to establish any particular person who is ready to present proof of any round to this impact.
House Workplace memos comprise no reference to time period
The aim of the circulars – or memos – is to supply police forces with steerage, coverage updates and administrative directions.
The House Workplace says all memos and circulars to police forces are printed on-line within the Nationwide Archives. They’re additionally stored within the library of the Faculty of Policing web site.
ORIONEWS Confirm searched all of the circulars for 2008 and will discover no reference to “knowledgeable alternative” or “little one prostitute” or any phrase much like the one cited within the social media posts.
Of the 32 circulars listed on the Nationwide Archives web site for 2008, just one – 017/2008 – falls beneath the class “little one abuse”. We’ve got additionally searched circulars for 2007, 2009 and 2010 and located no references to “knowledgeable alternative”. We additionally looked for different phrases in Mr Afzal’s unique statements and variations from later social media posts – for instance “get entangled”, “sexual behaviour” and “way of life alternative” – and located no occurrences.
There have been a number of Freedom of Data requests relating to a supposed memo or round with the “knowledgeable alternative” phrase, however no police pressure has discovered any hint of such a communication.
We have been capable of finding a round from 2009 that hyperlinks to a webpage that additional hyperlinks to a doc on little one sexual exploitation launched by the Division for Youngsters, Colleges and Households that mentions the phrase “knowledgeable alternative”. It isn’t an instruction to police and the context it seems in is emphasising conditions the place native companies would possibly have to report sexual exercise in an effort to defend youngsters “unable to make an knowledgeable alternative”.
There have been circulars in 2007 and 2010 that contained the phrase “little one prostitute”. The primary was in reference to some technical modifications to offences like “controlling a toddler prostitute”. The second once more handled technical modifications however this round on prostitution additionally stated: “In brief, any steps taken, whether or not regarding prison proceedings or not, needs to be designed to guard the kid from persevering with sexual exploitation and abuse.”
The time period “little one prostitute” was taken out of the legislation in 2015 because it may indicate that youngsters may consent to abuse.
Circulars and memos are acquired by senior people in every police pressure, former Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary Simon Bailey instructed ORIONEWS Confirm.
“They’d’ve gone to crime registrars and the pinnacle of the crime and they might’ve cascaded the steerage,” he stated.
If there was any doubt about learn how to interpret the steerage a pressure would have gone again to the House Workplace to hunt readability, Mr Bailey added.
“And even going again 17 years, I can’t consider the House Workplace would’ve despatched out a round of that nature.”
‘By no means been any reality’
In an announcement to ORIONEWS Confirm, the House Workplace stated it had by no means instructed police to not go after grooming gangs:
“There has by no means been any reality within the existence of a House Workplace round telling police forces that grooming gangs shouldn’t be prosecuted, or that their victims have been making a alternative, and it’s now clear that the precise round which was being referred to does completely no such factor.”
Jacqui Smith – now Baroness Smith – was the Labour House Secretary in 2008. She instructed ORIONEWS Confirm: “It’s categorically incorrect that the House Workplace or I instructed police forces to not prosecute grooming gangs or to not defend younger women.”
A spokesperson for Gordon Brown stated: “There is no such thing as a foundation for such allegations in any respect. They’re a whole fabrication. There is no such thing as a basis in anyway for alleging that Mr Brown despatched, authorised or was in anyway concerned with issuing a round or assertion to the police as a result of it didn’t occur.”

‘Bought misplaced in translation’
ORIONEWS Confirm has tried to talk to those that repeated the declare on X and had their posts amplified by Mr Musk.
In a single put up, Mr Musk alleged that “Gordon Brown dedicated an unforgivable crime towards the British folks” and shared a video clip from campaigner Maggie Oliver showing on GB Information.
Within the clip, Ms Oliver alleged: “Gordon Brown despatched out a round to all of the police forces within the UK saying ‘don’t prosecute these rape gangs, these youngsters are making a way of life alternative’.”
Ms Oliver stated that she primarily based her declare on what Mr Afzal stated:
“My information of this comes from what Nazir Afzal stated publicly in 2018 in his ORIONEWS interview.”
ORIONEWS Confirm additionally reached out to June Slater, whose put up was additionally amplified by Mr Musk. She instructed us she had not seen the memo, however her declare was additionally primarily based on what Mr Afzal and Ms Oliver had beforehand stated:
“I assumed he was a dependable supply as is Maggie Oliver.”
Requested if he regretted the misinformation that had stemmed from his statements, Mr Afzal instructed ORIONEWS Confirm:
“I remorse that folks have interpreted what I interpreted and that it is kind of obtained misplaced in translation.”
ORIONEWS Confirm additionally contacted the Police Federation, the Nationwide Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Faculty of Policing in regards to the alleged round.
The NPCC referred us to the House Workplace’s assertion whereas the Faculty of Policing stated it was not conscious of any round.
‘Allegations ignored’
Whereas there isn’t any proof for the existence of the round, the efficiency of the police and different establishments in defending victims and investigating abuse has been closely criticised throughout this era.
Prof Alexis Jay – who carried out the unbiased inquiry into little one abuse – stated some victims would by no means get better from their experiences.
“We heard time and time once more how allegations of abuse have been ignored, victims have been blamed and establishments prioritised their reputations over the safety of youngsters.”
Extra reporting by Ned Davies and Lucy Gilder.
