As he falls out with Farage, how should politicians handle Elon Musk?

Published

9 months ago

January 5, 2025

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For British politicians, the question of the moment is how do you handle Elon Musk?

The billionaire owner of X and Tesla, soon to take up a role as efficiency tsar in the Trump administration, has been throwing grenades almost every hour about British politics on his social media platform and dominating the headlines.

Much of it is inflammatory claims about Keir Starmer and his government – despite their efforts to build good relations with Donald Trump.

And until today, enthusiastic backing for Nigel Farage, who only in mid-December met Musk in the glitzy surroundings of Mar-a-Lago to talk money, amid reports he was considering a $100m donation to Reform.

Then bam! – after Farage repeatedly hailed Musk as a “hero” who made Reform “look cool” and was looking forward to a chat at Trump’s inauguration – the tables have turned rather dramatically.

Musk tweeted that Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the party and that Reform needs a new leader.

His change of heart comes after Musk has spent days intensively tweeting about grooming gangs in the UK, and his support for jailed far right activist Tommy Robinson, who has seized on this issue.

Farage, who has tried to distance himself from Robinson for most of his career, thinks this is the reason for the fall out, responding that he was surprised but added: “My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”

Last week, Musk posted a series of tweets calling for Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – to be released from prison, where he is serving an 18-month sentence for contempt of court for repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee.

What does this spat mean for Reform?

In the short-term, Reform would hardly have wanted an unexpected falling out just as they are trumpeting rising membership figures and Farage is poised to meet him in Washington.

But Farage sees Robinson as toxic for his brand, and a distraction from his mission of building a campaign machine to fight the next UK general election – even if he loses powerful friends.

The prospect of a donation from Musk – who has donated huge sums to Donald Trump’s campaign, would have been an enticing one, but there were already significant legal questions around it, under UK election rules.

Farage’s friendship with Trump, going back to his first term as president, also does not seem to have been affected, so a hotline to the White House is still possible.

What does it mean for Starmer and Labour?

It’s unclear what Trump thinks about Musk’s recent obsession with British politics altogether – as he rails against Keir Starmer and other US allies hour by hour, and whether this online trolling will be tolerated after he takes up his job in the White House.

This is a question that Labour officials are eagerly awaiting the answer to, although there may be some relief that the criticism is now being turned on Farage.

Musk has – in the last day or two alone – made a series of incendiary and unfounded accusations against Starmer, claiming he was “complicit in the rape of Britain”, that he is “guilty of terrible crimes” and questioning whether he, as director of public prosecutions, “allowed rape gangs to exploit young girls without facing justice?”

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, doing interviews today, said Musk’s criticism was “completely ill-judged and ill-founded” and that Starmer had done a huge amount to support victims and achieve prosecutions in grooming cases. But largely, the government are trying to ignore the noise.

Kemi Badenoch was accused of dancing to Musk’s tune by calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs – the Conservatives having rejected one when in government just two years ago.

An unelected US-based billionaire is now setting a cat among the pigeons for all parties in Britain – and throwing issues into the limelight which none will find easy to ignore.

Politics

Conservative Party pledges £1.6bn ICE-style ‘removals force’ to detain and deport illegal migrants

Published

1 hour ago

October 4, 2025

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Conservative Party pledges £1.6bn ICE-style 'removals force' to detain and deport illegal migrants

The Conservatives are pledging to create a new “removals force” to detain and remove 150,000 a year as part of a broad plan to tackle illegal immigration to the UK.

Modelled on the “successful approach” of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, this new force would be given “sweeping new powers”, and over £1bn in new funding.

The pledge is part of the Conservative Party’s broad new plans to stop illegal migration to the UK, set to be unveiled by Kemi Badenoch on the first day of their annual conference on Sunday, where reducing immigration and creating “Strong Borders” will be one of the key themes.

The new “Removals Force” that she will unveil will replace the existing Home Office Immigration Enforcement (IE) and will be given broad new powers, including being able to use facial recognition without warning in order to spot illegal immigrants.

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It will be given funding of £1.6bn a year, up from the existing £820 million a year, to increase the number of removals annually from 34,000 to 150,000 – which would represent “at least 750,000 removals” across a five-year parliament.

The Tories say this increase in funding would come from the closure of asylum hotels and “tackling the wider costs of our out-of-control asylum system”.

However, ICE in the US has been heavily criticised by politicians and the public in recent months, with the agency accused of arresting both legal migrants and US citizens and targeting people based on their race.

Expanding the use of live facial recognition technology is also likely to attract criticism from within the Tory party itself, on the grounds of it being a threat to individual freedom and privacy.

Tories to withdraw from multiple conventions

In addition to confirming plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), announced on Saturday, Ms Badenoch will also vow to fully repeal the Human Rights Act, and leave the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

This, the Tories say, would “end the legal blocks that allow illegal immigrants, and in some cases foreign criminals, to stay in the UK based on flimsy claims”.

A radical overhaul of the asylum system would see refugee status granted only to those threatened by a foreign government, and those fleeing conflict or “less tolerant” laws on religion or sexuality would not be eligible, with the party saying “few people will qualify”.

The plan will also see the immigration tribunal abolished, with all decisions on migration taken by the Home Office with only limited rights of appeal in cases where officials have acted without statutory authority.

Immigration cases will be denied legal aid, with the Tories accusing solicitors of having “defrauded” the UK by “coaching” applicants and arguing there is “no need for lawyers” as people “should simply tell the truth about their circumstances”.

‘Labour is fixing the Tories’ mess’

The plans come as Ms Badenoch faces continued pressure on her right flank from Reform UK, which has already pledged to leave the ECHR and deport up to 600,000 people over five years if it comes to power.

But the party leader said the plans put forward by Nigel Farage’s party are “nothing but announcements that fall apart on arrivals”.

She also said the Labour government offers “failed gimmicks”, adding: “Our Stronger Borders plan is serious and credible and backed by a comprehensive legal analysis. That is the difference the next Conservative government will deliver.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives’ message on immigration is: we got everything wrong, we won’t apologise, now trust us.

“It won’t wash – Kemi Badenoch’s party enabled record high net migration as removals plummeted, opened over 400 asylum hotels and wasted £700 million of taxpayers’ money to send just four volunteers to Rwanda.

“This Labour government is fixing the Tories’ mess by smashing the people-smuggling gangs running the vile small boats trade, closing asylum hotels, deporting foreign criminals and signing international returns deals to bring order to Britain’s borders.”

Hear more about the plans from shadow home secretary Chris Philp, live at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips from 8.30am.

Politics

Bankman-Fried says his biggest mistake was handing FTX to new CEO before bankruptcy

Published

10 hours ago

October 4, 2025

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Bankman-Fried says his biggest mistake was handing FTX to new CEO before bankruptcy

Sam Bankman-Fried claimed that handing over FTX to its current CEO was the “single biggest mistake” that prevented him from saving the exchange.

Politics

Kemi Badenoch says Tories will quit ECHR if they win next election

Published

16 hours ago

October 4, 2025

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Kemi Badenoch says Tories will quit ECHR if they win next election

The Conservative Party will leave a key human rights treaty if it wins the election, its leader Kemi Badenoch has said.

Ms Badenoch announced the policy to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) ahead of the Conservative Party’s conference next week.

Despite many Tory MPs having expressed displeasure with the treaty, and the court that upholds treaty rights in recent years, it had not been party policy for the UK to exit it.

The move follows a review on the impact of the UK’s ECHR membership conducted by shadow attorney general Baron Wolfson.

Lord Wolfson’s nearly 200-page report said the ECHR had impacted government policy in numerous areas.

The report said this includes limiting government’s ability to address immigration issues, potentially hampering restrictions on climate change policy, and impacting government ability to prioritise British citizens for social housing and public services.

But leaving the ECHR would “not be a panacea to all the issues that have arisen in recent years”, Lord Wolfson said.

It comes after the Reform Party in August said they would take the UK out of the ECHR if elected.

The Conservatives have increasingly come under threat from Reform and are being trailed in the polls by them.

What is the ECHR?

The ECHR was established in the 1950s, drafted in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Holocaust, to protect people from serious human rights violations, with Sir Winston Churchill as a driving force.

It’s 18 sections guarantee rights such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial, the right to private and family life and the right to freedom of expression.

It has been used to halt the deportation of migrants in 13 out of 29 UK cases since 1980.

A political issue

Leaving the ECHR would breach the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the peace settlement deal between the British and Irish governments on how Northern Ireland should be governed.

Labour has in recent days said it was considering how Article 3, the prohibition on torture, and Article 8,
the right to respect for private and family life, are interpreted. The sections have been used to halt deportation attempts.

The Liberal Democrats and Greens are in favour of the ECHR.

A general election is not expected until 2029.