UK PM Keir Starmer slams Elon Musk for 'lies and misinformation'

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Jan 6, 2025

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer slammed Elon Musk on Monday for spreading “lies and misinformation” about his left-leaning government after the billionaire started taking aim at a wide range of political targets across the pond.

In comments aimed at the Tesla billionaire, Starmer criticized “those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible,” tagging opposition Conservative politicians in Britain who have echoed some of Musk’s claims.

“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies,” Starmer said when asked about Musk’s criticism during a question session at a hospital near London. “Once we lose the anchor that truth matters … then we are on a very slippery slope.”

The world’s richest man has slammed Starmer for his record as prime minister as well as his previous record as a prosecutor. It’s part of an escalating campaign of comments on politics in countries to which Musk has no strong ties, including Britain and Germany, where he backs the far right-wing AfD party.

Musk on Monday posted an online poll for his 210 million followers asking if they agree that “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.” Last summer, he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable” in Britain.

“Starmer is utterly despicable,” Musk tweeted.

Musk, who has become one of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest allies, has repeatedly slammed Starmer for supposedly botching probes into child sexual abuse when he was a prosecutor, particularly a series of cases in which groups of men, largely from Pakistani backgrounds, were tried for grooming and abusing dozens of girls.

Starmer, who is suffering from anemic approval ratings, denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to implement reforms proposed by a government commission.

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

That call apparently led to a split between Musk and Nigel Farage, the pro-Trump leader of Britain’s far right wing Reform Party, who wants to keep Robinson at arms length.

“The Reform Party needs a new leader,” Musk tweeted on Sunday. “Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”

Farage tweeted back that he was surprised by Musk’s attack.

“Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree,” he wrote.

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