When Rishi Sunak was prime minister, he welcomed Elon Musk as a guest of honour at the government’s AI summit, with the pair even having a fireside chat. However, the new inhabitant of No. 10 takes a different approach to the billionaire owner of X and Tesla. This afternoon, Keir Starmer’s spokesman has slapped down Musk over comments he made online suggesting civil war in the UK was ‘inevitable’ following a wave of violent disorder in the past week.
Asked by journalists about the remark that Musk made on his own social media platform, Starmer’s spokesperson said ‘there is no justification for comments like that’. They went on:
What we’ve seen in this country is organized, illegal thuggery which has no place on our streets or online. We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain … The prime minister doesn’t share those [Musk’s] sentiments.
Musk has since continued the feud. In response to a Starmer tweet with a video of his comments stating his government will not tolerate attacks on ‘mosques or Muslim communities, Musk has replied: ‘Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?’
The exchange comes as Starmer tries to show he has a grip on the issue after the violent disorder escalated over the weekend. Following scenes in Rotherham where protesters set fire to a Holiday Inn thought to be used to house asylum seekers, Starmer made a statement promising to show the full force of the law in response to ‘far-right thuggery’. Today he chaired his first Cobra meeting since the violence began following the Southport stabbings last week.
Starmer has promised a ‘standing army’ of specialist police officers to help deal with any further rioting. He has also promised to crack down on those inciting violence online. It begs the question as to whether Starmer and Musk’s clash today is a taste of things to come. Musk has been criticised previously for reinstating the accounts of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson in November last year.
Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, has said that while responsibility for harmful social media content ‘principally rests’ with those who create it, ‘it is undeniable that social media has provided a platform for this hate’. It means there could be more to come on what the new Labour government expects from tech companies, such as the one owned by Musk.
Hear Katy’s analysis on Coffee House Shots:
Comments