Elon Musk says Nigel Farage should quit as leader of Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party, in a sharp withdrawal of the American billionaire’s support for the Brexit campaigner who is trying to once again upend Britain’s political establishment.
“The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” Musk said on his social media platform X on Sunday, hours after Farage described him as a friend who made the Reform Party look “cool”.
Musk – a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump – had apparently supported Farage and posed for a photo with him last month.
The reformists won 4.1 million votes, or 14% of the total, as well as five seats in Parliament in last July’s national elections.
Farage has previously said he is in negotiations with Musk over a donation from the billionaire to the Reform Party to help it challenge the dominant Labor and Conservative parties.
But Farage distanced himself from comments made by Musk in support of British anti-immigration and anti-Muslim campaigner Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, who is serving a prison sentence for contempt of court.
Farage responded to Musk’s post on Sunday, saying: “Well, that’s a surprise! Elon is a remarkable person, but on this point I’m afraid I disagree. My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for the Reform Party and I have never wavered from my principles.”
Last month, Musk supported the Alternative for Germany, an anti-immigration and anti-Islam party labeled as right-wing extremist by German security services, ahead of February’s national elections.
Musk has previously sought to influence British politics and has criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer on several occasions since last summer’s anti-immigration riots.
The Tesla founder last week backed calls for a national inquiry into the handling of cases of rape of underage girls by men of Pakistani origin by the government prosecution service that Starmer previously led.
A 2014 investigation found that at least 1,400 children were victims of sexual exploitation in Rotherham, northern England, between 1997 and 2013.
The Times said Starmer is expected to respond to criticism at a press conference on Monday by saying he gave the green light to the prosecution of pedophile gangs in 2013 and reformed the way child abuse cases are handled. The children were being treated by prosecutors.
But he is unlikely to directly criticize Musk given the billionaire’s closeness to Trump, according to the newspaper.
A spokesperson for Starmer’s office declined to comment.
On Sunday, British Health Minister Wes Streeting defended Starmer and another member of his cabinet, Jess Phillips, who drew the ire of Elon Musk for saying any new investigation into another gang rape case should be carried out by local authorities.
“It’s very easy to stand there and throw something out in a hurry and hit ‘send’ when people like Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have been doing the hard work of locking up wife beaters, rapists and pedophiles ” Streeting told the BBC.
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