South African billionaire Elon Musk dominated Westminster politics on the first day of its post-Christmas return, fighting rhetorical wars on two fronts with Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and the Labour prime minister Keir Starmer.
Musk, a close ally of incoming US president Donald Trump, launched separate attacks on social media on the two UK political leaders in rows that were both ostensibly linked to the billionaire’s disapproval of Britain’s handling of so-called “grooming gangs” of mainly Muslim abusers who targeted British children.
Some senior politicians from the Conservative Party, a bitter rival of both Labour and Reform, gleefully amplified Musk’s attacks. Others, such as Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, called on the UK government to officially complain to the US about Musk’s “interference”.
“It is time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown,” said Davey.
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While Musk’s antipathy towards Starmer is deep and long-standing, he stunned Farage over the weekend when he posted on his social media platform X that the Reform leader “doesn’t have what it takes” and should be replaced.
Farage, a fellow close ally of Trump’s, had appeared to be also forging an alliance with Musk when the two men met in December at the incoming US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. They had even discussed the possibility of Musk making a large donation to Reform.
However, they appear to have swiftly fallen out – on social media, at least – over Musk’s support for hard-right UK political agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, who has been disavowed by Farage.
Robinson is in prison for contempt of court for violating a court order not to repeat defamatory comments about a Muslim refugee. Musk suggested Robinson, who has also railed against mainly-Muslim grooming gangs, should be freed.
Farage, meanwhile, distanced himself from Musk’s support for Robinson – the Reform UK leader covets support from more mainstream conservatives by keeping clear of fringe figures such as Robinson. It seems, however, that Farage’s disapproval sparked the public ire of Musk.
Separately, Musk has also become embroiled in an increasingly bitter war of words with Starmer over the latter’s past as head of the Crown Prosecution Service and its record with grooming gangs.
Over the weekend Musk sharply criticised Jess Phillips, the UK government’s parliamentary secretary for the safeguarding of young girls, who recently declined to order a full public inquiry into grooming gangs in Oldham.
The UK government argues there was already a public inquiry into grooming – the 2022 report by academic Alexis Jay – and that its recommendations need to be implemented, rather than having another inquiry.
[ Musk accused of ‘politicising’ rape of young girls in UK to attack StarmerOpens in new window ]
Musk was accused on Sunday by Labour of a “smear” of Phillips, whom he called a “rape genocide apologist”. On Monday, Starmer backed her and lambasted the “lies” of her critics, although he did not mention Musk by name.
The billionaire, however, responded throughout the afternoon with a series of increasingly bizarre social media attacks on the prime minister, which culminated in a call for Starmer to be jailed. At one point, Musk and former Tory prime minister Liz Truss were retweeting each other’s attacks on Labour.
The row with Musk has its roots in a decision by the government not to invite him to an investment summit in October, after the billionaire retweeted conspiracy theories about Starmer’s handling of the UK riots during the summer.
Now, however, it presents an increasingly treacherous diplomatic problem for the prime minister, who covets a close relationship with Musk’s ally, the incoming president Trump.
Starmer could try to smooth things out behind the scenes or, as some in Westminster have suggested, he could also just sit back and wait for the hardly-implausible moment when Trump and Musk fall out.
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