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Tesla CEO Elon Musk, co-chairman of the newly announced Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill on December 5, 2024. in Washington, DC.
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Elon Musk has questioned whether the United States should “liberate the British people from their tyrannical government” after lashing out at top UK lawmakers.
In recent days, the tech billionaire and chief adviser to the US president-elect Donald Trump took to social media to air his grievances against the British government, leading to a war of words between Tesla boss and UK government official.
In a series of posts on social media platform X — which musk owns — The tech tycoon has hit out at Britain’s Labor government, criticizing its handling of historic child abuse scandals.
On Friday, Musk accused UK Health Secretary Jess Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist” before releasing a series of messages a call for dismissing Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a prison term about how babysitting gangs and other criminals who prey on children were brought to justice.
His criticism of the UK government last weekend culminated in a poll where he pitched the concept of “liberating the people of Great Britain” to platform users.
Musk’s comments came after Phillips rejected calls for a government investigation into the sexual exploitation of children in Oldham.
Before starting his political career, Starmer served as the UK’s Director of Public Prosecutions, leading the Crown Prosecution Service during the country’s child-rape gang scandal. Phillips worked for the charity Women’s Aid, which helps women who are victims of domestic violence, before entering politics.
A spokesperson for Phillips was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
“Boundary Crossed”
“As far as Elon Musk is concerned… it’s a really important set of questions. The sexual exploitation of children is abhorrent,” Starmer said in response to a question during a press conference on Monday. “(But) those who spread lies and misinformation as far and wide as possible — they’re not interested in the victims, they’re interested in themselves.”
Starmer on Monday defended his work as the former director of public prosecutions, noting that the Crown Prosecution Service had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases pursued by the time he left office.
“Just like I took on the criminal justice system and the institutions when I was attorney general, I’m ready to call it what it is,” he told reporters.
“When the venom of the far right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, the line is crossed in my book. I like the clarity and sharpness of politics, but it should be based on facts … not on those who are so desperate for attention that they are willing to humiliate themselves and their country.”
Musk’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
A war of words
Starmer’s comments came after UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting called Musk’s attack on Phillips a “disgraceful defamation” over the weekend.
“Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips, both of whom have been subjected to completely ill-advised criticism, have done more in their professional lives than most people will ever do to jail pedophiles, rapists, wife-beaters and all the other scumbags in our country . society,” he said in an interview with the television company the BBC.
Streeting challenged Musk to “roll up his sleeves and really do something about violence against women and girls,” citing the role of digital platforms “in keeping people safe online.”
A fight with Musk – who has it got a job heads a new unofficial office for the incoming Trump administration – comes two weeks before the inauguration of Trump’s second presidency, amid questions over the fate of the “special relationship” between Great Britain and the United States
Britain already be under pressure to build bridges with the president-elect after a top official’s earlier taunts about Trump resurfaced. Meanwhile, the European Union was strengthening ties with Great Britain ahead of Trump’s return to the White House to defend both sides against possible US trade tariffs.
