Elon Musk is looking at how Sir Keir Starmer could be ousted as Prime Minister before the next general election, according to new reports.
The X owner and Donald Trump ally is seeking to destabilise the Labour Government – of which he is a fierce critic – further than his existing social media attacks on the party’s top brass, people briefed on the matter have told the Financial Times.
“His view is that Western civilisation itself is threatened”, a source closely connected to Musk has warned.
Musk is said to have sniffed out the possibility of building support for alternative British political movements including Reform UK in order to force a change of PM before the next election, according to associates.
It comes amid a bitter row over grooming gangs – in which Musk has aligned himself with both the Conservatives and Reform against Labour – but, just days ago, Labour, the Tories and Reform all warned Trump about how the tech magnate might be putting the ‘special relationship’ at risk, Bloomberg revealed.
That came after Musk publicly disavowed Nigel Farage, apparently quashing speculation that the billionaire could make a large donation to his party in the near future.
Musk said “the Reform party needs a new leader” and that “Farage doesn’t have what it takes” – despite having posed with Farage and Reform UK’s treasurer Nick Candy at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago base in December.
But Farage hasn’t been entirely put off – he told LBC that he would be seeing the SpaceX owner later this month, and is planning to travel to Washington DC to Trump’s inauguration. Neither Starmer nor Kemi Badenoch are slated to attend.
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‘Peddling mistruth!’ Now Lammy breaks silence on Musk as Labour gears up for Trump Presidency
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has broken his silence on Elon Musk
PA
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has broken his silence on Elon Musk this morning – just 11 days before Labour will have to wrestle with the next Trump White House.
Asked what he would say to the tech magnate after his repeated digs at Labour on X, Lammy told the BBC: “Well, I insist that we focus on the truth, we focus on the facts.
“I recognise that there is a heated debate about free speech and Elon Musk is at one end of that debate.
“But to have free speech, it must be based on facts and on truth, and some of what we’ve seen online is peddling mistruth, is creating bad faith, is very unfair to those victims.”
On grooming gangs, Lammy added: “There has been a debate prompted by Elon Musk, of course, this week.
“And I think the Prime Minister was right earlier in the week to really call to mind the facts, the truth, and to call out those who are putting forward mistruths in this area.”
With Musk set to serve in Donald Trump’s cabinet as the co-chair of the new Department of Government Efficiency, the Foreign Secretary may have to deal with the most aggressive US administration in some time.
But he counselled calm – Lammy said he’s “looking forward to working with those in the Trump administration come January 20 and beyond”.
Using ‘grooming gangs’ term in relation to Muslims is ‘RACIST’, Labour policy claims
The Labour Party’s definition of Islamophobia puts “grooming gangs” in inverted commas and forbids discussion on the scandal in relation to Muslims in fear of racism, Kemi Badenoch has claimed.
Labour adopted its definition in 2019 from a report by a group of MPs co-chaired by now-Health Secretary Wes Streeting. It includes a warning that “Asian grooming gangs” perpetuate “age-old stereotypes and tropes about Islam”.
The report from the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) said that discussing the scandal makes Muslims “vulnerable to hate crimes”.
But now, it’s drawn the ire of the Tory leader…
Top Tories issue dire warning over Labour’s ‘lack of credibility’ – ‘They can’t even give away Chagos!’
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith launched into a scathing tirade at the party in power
PA
Labour’s multi-billion-pound Chagos Islands giveaway deal risks undermining the Government’s credibility even further, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has warned.
In a social media post this morning reacting to the news that Rachel Reeves is set to give a “growth speech” soon amid growing fears over the British economy’s future, Griffith launched into a scathing tirade at the party in power.
“How would a government which reportedly can’t even GIVE AWAY our sovereign territory (BIOT Chagos) without paying £9billion, and which has made up its own fiddled fiscal rules, have any credibility?” he asked. “That is what gilt markets see.”
With long-term borrowing costs in Britain soaring to their highest level since 1998, Reeves is expected to reassure bond investors and businesses about the economy, according to Bloomberg – with spending cuts, not more tax rises, her way to open up her dwindling fiscal headroom.
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