Elon Musk v Britain: A Political Tsunami Begins
Elon Musk hasn’t just waded into British politics – he’s caused a political tsunami.
Eyebrows were first raised when Musk met with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, with rumours swirling that the Tesla boss was considering a gargantuan $100 (£80.5) million donation to Reform UK. To put this into context, all UK political parties combined received a total of £93 million in the entirety of 2023. It is simply unfathomable that one donor could gift such an enormous cash boost to one party’s war chest.
Fast forward a few days, however, and Musk tweets that Farage ‘doesn’t have what it takes’ to be Reform UK leader. I’m not a gambling man, but I wouldn’t be waving goodbye to $100 million if I didn’t think the person receiving it was fit for the job. This may have been news enough, but as it turned out, this u-turn proved to be only the start.
The world’s richest man turned his keyboard army on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, stirring the pot labelled ‘child sexual exploitation’. In a series of devastating posts on X, Musk’s own social media platform, he called out ‘Squirmy Starmer’ and Labour safeguarding minister Jess Phillips for ‘covering up’ the British child sexual exploitation scandal.
Now, I do not wish to lapse into legalese and discuss this scandal, as it is not the point I wish to make. But, briefly, the scandal refers to a series of cases identified in the Jay Review, where young girls were groomed by gangs of predominantly Pakistani descent. Any case of sexual exploitation, especially involving children, is unquestionably sickening. Transcripts where victims have presented evidence are available online – and I would encourage anybody to read them.
We all agree that sexual exploitation is wrong and we should take action to prevent it. But why, oh why, is Elon Musk sticking his nose in to lead that charge? This is an unelected businessman – to be clear, the richest individual in the world – who has been appointed, not elected, to serve the Trump administration. This is a man who owns X, the social media platform that Musk is using as the megaphone of extremely serious allegations. Musk is exploiting his political influence as the owner of a social media platform, which has become a very dangerous echo chamber – and frequently a plague of misinformation.
Whether you agree with Musk’s views, how is it right that an unelected businessman is allowed to play God, infecting the minds of hundreds of millions of people too misinformed to know better? If I didn’t know better, I’d say Musk is acting more like the US President-elect than Donald Trump right now. He’s the one calling the shots. He’s the one making the statements and getting the headlines. Musk is unquestionably intelligent and successful – but in business. Leave the politics before the politics leaves you.
I truly feel we have reached a precipice in our world. We can no longer take anything for gospel. Truths are forever questioned as falsehoods; and falsehoods are forever spun into truths. For politicians under scrutiny, this is a nightmare. People will never trust what you say, even if you are speaking the truth. And Musk is feasting on this narrative like a greedy great snake expanding with every gulp, profiting by capitalising on all of our uninformed fears.
There is no open and honest politics or journalism anymore. It is just a mass of mouths spitting opinions as facts and, often, whoever has the deepest pockets will cough up to shout the loudest – and be heard.
In the case of this child sexual exploitation scandal, Musk has got exactly what he wanted: infighting. The Conservatives and Reform UK are calling for a national inquiry, meanwhile the Labour Government is being forced to jealously defend information which, according to the allegations, is a bomb waiting to explode.
Don’t you see? Musk isn’t after justice for victims of child sexual exploitation. He’s trying to destabilise Britain, weaken our government, and plunge us into a perpetual cycle of election, hope, public failure, and an election once more. Expect more of this. It’s not over.
On the child sexual exploitation scandal, should there be an inquiry as Musk, the Conservatives and Reform UK are asking for? There probably should. We need to know exactly what happened and how it was allowed to happen – so that such atrocities will never happen again. Furthermore, any government denying a national inquiry into a significant issue is asking for trouble, as it only fans the flames of the sort of cover-up narrative purported by Musk.
One thing, however, is for certain. Elon Musk’s rallying cries on X, in this case for a national inquiry, is a sign of what’s to come. Musk playing God in a political attempt to bring down another country’s government strikes me as the digital equivalent of Trump inciting the Capitol riots on January 6.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Leave the politics before the politics leaves you.
Image: Flickr/Daniel Oberhaus
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