UK government calls on Elon Musk to act responsibly amid provocative posts as unrest grips country

Elon Musk has branded the British Prime Minister “two-tier Keir” and has suggested he has been treating Muslims more favourably than white people in the ongoing riots gripping the UK.

The billionaire owner of social media platform X stepped up his war of words with PM Keir Starmer’s UK Government yesterday through a series of provocative messages about the volatile situation in the country a week after a stabbing rampage that left three young girls in a dance workshop dead.

The outburst came after one UK government minister branded Musk “deeply irresponsible” for claiming “civil war is inevitable”.

The world’s richest man, who has almost 193 million followers on X, has now made more than 30 comments about immigration, crime, policing and politics in the UK since the Southport stabbings last Monday.

In one of a string of tweets yesterday, he commented on a video showing armed and masked Muslims attacking a pub in Birmingham, asking Starmer: ”Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?”

He added the slogan “two-tier Keir”, referring to the claim made by some people that police are treating disorder by white thugs more harshly than protests by ethnic minorities or Left-wing groups.

Musk also asked the PM “is this still happening” in response to a post about the Rotherham grooming scandal.

He posted a picture of a cartoon character being executed in the electric chair, saying it showed what it would be like “in 2030 for making a Facebook comment the UK government didn’t like”.

Downing Street has not responded to his latest provocative messages, having on Monday said that his “civil war” claim had “no justification”.

But Sir Keir has dismissed the accusation, also made by Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and others, that police are treating some groups more harshly than others.

He has insisted: “There is no two-tier policing. There is policing without fear or favour – exactly as it should be, exactly what I would expect and require.”

Yesterday Courts Minister Heidi Alexander told Times Radio that Mr Musk’s comments about civil war were “unjustifiable”.

She went on: “If you’ve got a platform, a large social media platform, then you’ve also got a responsibility. I think it is deeply irresponsible.

“I think everyone should be appealing for calm. Use of language such as a civil war is in no way acceptable.

“We have got police officers being seriously injured on our streets. People are looting buildings. They’re setting buildings alight.

“For someone who has a large following to be exercising that power in such an irresponsible way, I think is actually pretty unconscionable.

“We will have, and continue to have, a robust police response.

“There will be swift and effective justice but individuals who have a platform should be behaving responsibly.”

Luke Tryl, director of the society think tank More in Common, said: “Elon Musk, who is without doubt one of the most influential people in the world, is not only failing to take action on his platform to tackle this stuff but, in fact, seems to be dabbling with some of these conspiracy theories, suggesting that the UK is headed towards civil war, criticising Keir Starmer.

“I think that is a deeply concerning position to be in and I do think Keir Starmer and No 10 have no option but to push back very robustly on it because this is a man who essentially has the power and influence of a head of state, given how wealthy he is and given X’s reach.

“It’s a pretty extraordinary situation and I think it’s something we’ve got to confront and deal with in the months and years ahead.”

But the Conservative minister who was responsible for introducing the landmark law aimed at tackling illegal content on social media, the Online Safety Act, said the Government should not be criticising Musk.

Former Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan told GB News: “I think what Keir Starmer has done is he’s got it wrong by just lurching and attacking Elon Musk. Actually, there are people out there on X and other platforms that are inciting violence and encouraging this to take place, and they’re the people that need to be stopped.

“Whilst we need to protect free speech, and people can have opinions and they can differ, we shouldn’t be inciting and encouraging violence.”

Donelan said ministers should have got all of the social media platforms in and asked them what their policies were and how intelligence could be shared rather than “just going off on one at Elon Musk”.

She went on: “The reality is Keir Starmer is more interested in grandstanding and making these jabs than actually acting and trying to deal with the problem at the root.”

Superintendent Emlyn Richards, from West Midlands Police, said that the comments made on X by Musk are not “helpful”.

He added: “However, people have that right to express their opinions and that’s what Mr Musk has done. ‘What I would say, in respect of two-tier policing, is it doesn’t exist in the West Midlands. We are here to police without fear or favour.”