Elon Musk hits out after mayoral candidate suspended from working in NHS over 'offensive' social media posts about grooming gangs

By JAMES TOZER, NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT Published: 13:12, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 13:22, 22 July 2026 Elon Musk today shared his anger after a candidate to succeed Andy Burnham as Mayor of Greater Manchester was suspended from working in the NHS over ‘offensive’ social media posts about grooming gangs. Marlon West, 52, has spent years campaigning for a national inquiry into organised child sex abuse after his daughter Scarlett was trafficked and preyed on from the age of just 14. He is now standing as hard-Right Restore Britain’s candidate to take over from Mr Burnham, who resigned after returning to Parliament ahead of succeeding Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister this week. But it has now emerged that Mr West - an advanced nurse practitioner who spent 30 years working for the NHS in Greater Manchester - has been made subject to an interim suspension by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Imposed last week, his temporary ban is understood to relate to ‘offensive’ social media posts about grooming gangs. One is believed to relate to a private Facebook group in which Mr West referred to the injuries his daughter received at the hands of an abuser. He is said to have posted: ‘This is what Pakistanis do! After being raped and tortured! My daughter you sicko.’ The NMC is believed to have examined other social media posts, including one in which Mr West wrote: ‘Ban Afghans from entering the UK.’ Grooming gangs campaigner Marlon West (left), pictured with Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, is running to succeed Andy Burnham as Mayor of Greater Manchester Elon Musk today shared Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe's letter condemning Mr West's suspension by an investigating committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council In a message which has today been shared by X owner Elon Musk, Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe has branded Mr West’s suspension ‘scandalous’. And he has written to NMC chair Ron Barclay-Smith saying the ‘timing’ of the move just days before the by-election ‘creates the unmistakable appearance of political interference’. Sharing the letter with his 241million followers, tech billionaire Mr Musk – who has repeatedly shared his anger at Britain’s ‘rape gangs’ - wrote: ‘It could have been your daughter.’ In response, the NMC insisted it never took action 'simply because something a professional has said has caused offence' and only stepped in if they did so in a way which 'fundamentally calls into question their conduct or performance'. While his daughter Scarlett was still at school, Mr West reported her missing to police over 50 times, supplying evidence of who was abusing her and where it was happening. But despite this, no arrests were ever made or any of the men prosecuted. Instead Scarlett herself ended up being repeatedly arrested and even subjected to inhumane treatment at the hands of police officers, including being forced to take part in a strip search when she was just 14. She is now rebuilding her life and bravely waived her anonymity to campaign alongside Mr West in their successful push for a national inquiry into the scourge of grooming gangs. The 18-month interim suspension imposed by an investigating committee of the NMC last Friday does not give any reasons for the move. Marlon West (pictured with his daughter Scarlett) has spoken of how his desperate efforts to protect her from grooming gangs were thwarted by inaction from police and social services Tech billionaire and X boss Elon Musk has regularly intervened over the scandal of Britain's grooming gangs  But according to Mr West he never received a complaint about his clinical practice in all the years he worked in the NHS. He has pledged that if he is elected mayor he will ensure public services do more to protect young people, saying Mr Burnham 'ran those institutions for a decade while children were being abused on his watch'.  ‘I’m genuinely shocked that I’ve been suspended,’ Mr West told the Daily Mail today. ‘Coming just days before the mayoral by-election, this smacks to me of political interference. ‘But I will not be silenced and I will continue campaigning on behalf of victims of grooming gangs. ‘This will only make me stronger.’ Backing his candidate, Mr Lowe said the timing of his suspension was 'suspicious'. ‘This is shocking,’ he told the Manchester Evening News. ‘Restore Britain’s Greater Manchester mayoral candidate, Marlon West, has just been suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council days before the election. Marlon West, pictured with his daughter Scarlett who is a grooming gang survivor ‘Evidently, the timing of this suspension is very questionable. ‘Marlon’s daughter was raped and abused by gangs of Pakistani men in Greater Manchester. He has spent years campaigning to ensure other families do not suffer the same fate.’ Writing to Mr Barclay-Smith and new Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, Mr Lowe expressed his ‘profound concern’ at the ‘inexplicable decision’. He added: ‘The timing creates the unmistakable appearance of political interference - I note how the media were immediately made aware of the decision, despite it hiding deep on your organisation's website. ‘I can only hope nobody in the NMC was responsible for that. 'Marlon has devoted three decades to serving patients across Greater Manchester in the NHS. ‘He is a model professional, and has dedicated his career to helping those in need. ‘As you will know, he is also the father of a daughter who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of a rape gang. ‘He spent years fighting for his daughter. ‘He was attacked, assaulted and left exhausted after searching for his daughter night after night. It left him physically and mentally broken.’ Saying Mr West's comments about ‘Pakistani men taking part in industrial rape’ were ‘objectively factual’, Mr Lowe added that his call to end Afghan immigration into Britain was a ‘reasonable political opinion held by tens of millions of Brits’, as well as being Restore Britain policy. ‘Your decision to suspend him over these legally held opinions shames your organisation, insults our supposed tradition of free speech, and deliberately interferes in a significant electoral event,’ he adds. ‘Very much an unwanted hat-trick, Mr Barclay-Smith. ‘I look forward to your full apology, appropriate compensation for Marlon and a prompt reinstatement of Marlon's position.’ Scarlett, now 21, campaigns alongside her father to help educate girls about the continuing threat of grooming gangs. Sharing her anger at his suspension, she posted on X: ‘Absolutely disgusting I have no words.’ Labour’s candidate, Bev Craig, currently leader of Manchester City Council, is projected to win the Mayoral election on July 30. Last week YouGov forecast she would top the polls with 38 per cent of first preference votes, with Mr West fifth on seven percent. It projects Ms Craig then beating Reform UK’s Sian Astley once second preference votes have been counted. Labour has faced a stream of criticism over its handling of the probe into grooming gangs. Sir Keir Starmer initially resisted calls for a national inquiry last year after Mr Musk sparked a political row when he used his X social media platform to attack the then Prime Minister over the long-running scandal. Finally after months of delays, former children's commissioner for England Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed to head up a probe to investigate what she has branded a ‘catastrophic failure of the state’. London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley will be the first areas investigated. The £65million inquiry is investigating how the grooming gangs operated and how public institutions including the police, councils, health services, social care services and schools responded. Mr West – who does not currently work in the NHS - was not present or represented at the NMC hearing. His suspension will now be reviewed every six months. In a statement today the NMC said: 'We’re clear that everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression.  'We won't take action simply because something a professional has said has caused offence. 'We’ll only take action where the way a professional has expressed their views fundamentally calls into question their conduct or performance. 'We expect all nurses to act professionally and treat people – of all races and nationalities – with dignity and respect.  'Where it’s alleged an individual has behaved in a way that represents a serious departure from our standards of performance and conduct, we may investigate further and apply to temporarily restrict their practice. 'The timing of any interim order is driven solely by our regulatory process.' The Department of Health and Social Care was also approached for comment.