Elon Musk told to ‘mind his own business’ by minister after UK comments

Elon Musk has been told to “mind his own business” by a Home Office minister after the tech billionaire made a string of comments about the UK.

The Tesla chief executive and owner of X addressed protesters at a rally in central London, led by far-right activist and convicted fraudster Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, in September.

Criticising “uncontrolled immigration”, Mr Musk said on video link: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.”

He also called for a “dissolution of parliament” and a “change of government”, and claimed that “the left are the party of murder”, in his video-link message.

Downing Street branded his words “dangerous and inflammatory” at the time, while Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint told peers on Tuesday he felt it was “borderline incitement of violence”.

Mr Musk has also taken to his own social media platform to criticise the UK Government, which he has called “tyrannical”, and to claim that civil war is “inevitable” on Britain’s shores.

Lord Hanson said he would “welcome much silence from Mr Musk” and suggested the SpaceX founder should “stay in the States and count his cash”.

Asked how the Government responded to Mr Musk’s comments, the minister told the House of Lords: “Personally, I just ignore it. We had an election, we’ve had 400-plus Labour Members of Parliament elected.

“I stand here because the people of Great Britain have chosen a Labour Government. We have a duty to deliver what we can.

“The people of Great Britain will choose the next government in maybe three-and-a-half or four years’ time, not some billionaire foreigner.

“So I would suggest he buys a book on the British constitution out of his money, he reads it, he understands how it works, and he minds his own business.”

Lord Hanson added: “I would certainly welcome much silence from Mr Musk. But again, I’ll defend his right to have his opinion, I just don’t agree with it.

“And also, I don’t think actually it’s really for somebody in his position to align himself with individuals who are trying to destroy much of the fabric of British society by their comments, and also I don’t think it’s appropriate for him to express his views via some new-fangled machinery down the line to the United Kingdom.

“We are a democracy, we know what we’re doing, members opposite disagree with us, but all people in this society have a chance to judge the Government and they did vote for the Government less than 15 or 16 months ago.”

More than 100,000 attended the Unite The Kingdom Rally on September 13 – 23 people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured, including four who were seriously hurt.

More than 150 reports of anti-Muslim hate were made to the Tell Mama charity monitoring the issue in the seven days following the march.

Lord Hanson told peers: “Elon Musk’s remarks were wrong. The people who stepped over the line in that demonstration and in fact injured police officers were wrong.

“And the incitement to that, which Mr Musk was on the border of doing, is absolutely wrong.

“But ultimately, in the event of any action taken against him, it is for the police independently to make a judgment on those issues in the event that Mr Musk visits this country.”

Asked about the protection of Muslim women and girls from hate crime, Lord Hanson said: “The Government cares about the safety of all women. That is why we’re putting in place a strategy to tackle violence against women and girls over the next 10 years.

“That strategy will be produced very shortly and I know (Baroness Gohir) has made representations to me and others about what that strategy should contain.

“It’s absolutely important that we defend people’s right to live their life in peace without interference, and I include interference in this case from Elon Musk, who has no mandate in this country, no interest in this country’s future and should, quite frankly, stay in the States and count his cash.”