Keir Starmer has hit back at Elon Musk after the boss of X claimed “civil war is inevitable” in the UK.
Musk wrote the comment underneath a clip showing some of the violent disorder which has swept across the country in the last week, as the far-right hit back migration.
Responding to Musk’s claim, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “There’s no justification for comments like that and what we’ve seen in this country is organised illegal thuggery which has no place on our streets or online.
“We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain and in response to it we’ve seen some of the best of our communities coming out to clean up the mess and disruption.
“You can tell from that the prime minister doesn’t share those sentiments.”
The unrest was triggered by last Monday’s Southport stabbings, where three girls were killed.
Social media misinformation falsely claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker – he was actually born in Cardiff – and so catalysed the anti-migration riots.
Downing Street has since slammed social media companies for not policing their platforms and cracking down on fake news, with the PM saying “violent disorder was clearly whipped up online”.
Speaking to large social media companies (like X) last week, Starmer said: “That is also a crime. It is happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
Musk responded to a clip of the PM making those remarks with ”!!”.
The tech mogul, who lifted the X ban on English Defence League’s founder Tommy Robinson last year, has also engaged with right-wing figure on the platform.
A month into his premiership, it’s clear Musk’s relationship with No.10 is going to be dramatically different from the one he had with Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak.
Sunak even interviewed the tech tycoon for a live-streamed conversation during Downing Street’s two-day AI Safety Summit in November.