UK Leader Starmer Slams ‘Lies and Disinformation’ After Musk Attacks: NPR

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned “lies and disinformation” that he said are undermining British democracy, in response to a series of attacks on his government from Elon Musk.

The billionaire CEO of Tesla has taken an intense and irregular interest in British politics since the election of the center-left Labor Party in July. Musk used his social network, X, to call for new elections and demand Starmer’s imprisonment. On Monday, he posted an online poll to his 210 million followers on the following proposition: “America should free the British people from their tyrannical government.” »

Asked about Musk’s comments during a question session at a hospital near London, Starmer criticized “those who spread lies and disinformation as far and wide as possible”, particularly conservative opposition politicians in Britain who echoed some of Musk’s claims.

Musk often posts on being treated more harshly than pro-Palestinian or Black Lives Matter protesters. . Over the summer, during anti-immigrant violence in the United Kingdom, he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable.”

Recently, Musk has focused on child sexual abuse, particularly a series of cases that have rocked towns in northern England in which groups of men, largely of Pakistani origin, have been put on trial for manipulating and abusing dozens of girls. The cases have been used by far-right activists to link child abuse to immigration and to accuse politicians of covering up “grooming gangs” for fear of appearing racist.

Musk has called for a new public inquiry into these matters. A massive seven-year inquiry was carried out under the previous Conservative government, although many of the 20 recommendations it made in 2022 – including compensation for victims of abuse – have yet to be implemented . The Starmer government has said it will act as quickly as possible.

Musk also accused Starmer of failing to bring perpetrators to justice when he was England’s director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.

Starmer defended his record as chief prosecutor, saying he had reopened closed cases and “changed the whole approach to prosecution” of child sexual exploitation.

He also condemned comments made by Musk about Jess Phillips, the government minister responsible for tackling violence against women and girls. Musk called Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and said she deserved to be in prison.

“When the poison of the far right leads to serious threats against Jess Phillips and others, then in my book a line has been crossed,” Starmer said. “I appreciate the sense of politics, the vigorous debate that we need to have, but that needs to be based on facts and truth, not lies.”

Musk also called for the release of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a far-right activist named Tommy Robinson who is serving a prison sentence for contempt of court.

Starmer said people were “cheering for Tommy Robinson… trying to get a vicarious thrill from the street violence promoted by people like Tommy Robinson”.

Starmer has largely avoided mentioning Musk by name in his responses, likely for fear of giving him more attention – or angering Musk’s ally Donald Trump, who is due to be inaugurated as US president on the 20th. January.

Musk’s inflammatory interventions are also increasingly worrying governments across the rest of Europe. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, another target of the X owner’s ire, said he remains “calm” about critical personal comments made by Musk, but finds it worrying that the American billionaire is making the effort to get involved in the German elections by supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Starmer said the main problem was not Musk’s posts about X, but “what are politicians doing here to defend our democracy?”

He expressed concern that Britain’s conservative politicians “are so desperate for attention that they amplify what the far right says.”

“Once we lose the anchor that truth matters… then we find ourselves on a very slippery slope,” he said.

While some Conservatives, including party leader Kemi Badenoch, have echoed Musk’s arguments, the main beneficiary of his interest in the United Kingdom has been Reform UK, the far-right party led by Nigel Farage which only has five seats out of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, but major expansion plans. Farage said last month that Musk was considering making a multimillion-dollar donation to the party.

But Farage criticizes Tommy Robinson, refusing to let him join the Reform, and Musk posted on Sunday: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”

Farage tweeted in response: “Well that’s a surprise! Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I’m afraid I have to disagree.”