Starmer clashes with Musk over UK riot remarks

Prime Minister says no justification for billionaire’s claim that Britain is heading for ‘civil war’

Elon Musk and Sir Keir Starmer have clashed after the tech boss claimed that Britain was heading for civil war.
The billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, provoked a row with Downing Street over the riots that have engulfed UK cities amid accusations that social media is fuelling the unrest.
In a comment on his social media site about the violence, Mr Musk said “civil war is inevitable” – a remark that was explicitly rejected by the Prime Minister’s official spokesman, who said there was “no justification” for it.
Mr Musk then replied to a post on X by Sir Keir, questioning the Prime Minister’s decision to provide extra protection for mosques.
The spat risks complicating the Government’s efforts to get social media companies, including X, to be more proactive in removing disinformation believed to be stoking the riots.
It came as a seventh day of disorder saw far-Right and anti-racism protesters face off in Plymouth. Police largely held the two groups apart but the Devon and Cornwall force said officers were met with “sustained violence” with masonry and fireworks thrown and three officers were injured.
In Birmingham, hundreds of Muslims, including men in balaclavas and masks, formed a protective ring around a local mosque and shops amid rumours of a planned march by the far-Right.
Meanwhile, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates – all of which have majority Muslim populations – as well as Australia, issued travel alerts telling their citizens to be careful if they were travelling to the UK amid the riots.
However, Downing Street rebuffed calls for the Army to be deployed or Parliament to be recalled in response to the clashes, which were seen in at least 16 British towns and cities in the last week.
Sir Keir was also forced to respond to claims that there was “two-tier policing” in Britain after Nigel Farage suggested riots over the last week had been dealt with more harshly than other recent unrest and protests.
The Prime Minister rejected the claims, and Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Police Commissioner, denied that he had intentionally knocked a microphone out of a reporter’s hand when asked about the issue.
The Government has accused social media companies of fuelling the protests, which were prompted by false claims spread online that the suspect in the killing of three girls in Southport was an asylum seeker.
Downing Street said on Monday that action taken by social media companies to tackle misleading and inflammatory material “doesn’t go far enough”. It also warned that some foreign state actors were amplifying online disinformation.
Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, held one-on-one talks with executives from X, YouTube, Meta, Google and TikTok about the “spread of hateful misinformation and incitement” on the riots.
After holding talks with tech giants, Mr Kyle said: “There is a significant amount of content circulating that platforms need to be dealing with at pace. Different companies take different approaches, and I expect platforms to ensure that those seeking to spread hate online are not being facilitated and have nowhere to hide.”
Mr Musk is one of the US’s most influential tech bosses, also owning the electric car company Tesla. He is supporting Donald Trump’s bid for the US presidency this year.
He has commented on X more than a dozen times in recent days on the UK riots. In  one post, he reacted to footage allegedly from the UK that showed rioters, some masked, launching fireworks in clashes. He responded “civil war is inevitable” to a message about the video.
Later, Mr Musk responded to a message shared by Sir Keir’s official account which said “we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities”. He wrote back: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
The exchange seemed to be in response to Sir Keir’s announcement on Sunday to offer additional security personnel to mosques at risk of being targeted.
Mr Musk was previously criticised for reinstating the accounts of far-Right figures including Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, in November last year. In one post about the riots, Mr Musk responded to footage shared by Robinson.
Downing Street condemned Mr Musk’s “civil war” comment. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Monday: “There’s no justification for comments like that, and what we’ve seen in this country is organised thuggery and has no place either on our streets or online.
“As the Home Secretary said this morning, we’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain. And in response, we’ve seen some of the best of our communities, coming out and cleaning up the mess and the disruption of those that don’t speak for our country.”
Meanwhile, Sir Keir faced some criticism from senior Tories for not calling a Cobra meeting about the riots quickly enough. One was eventually held on Monday.
James Cleverly, the former home secretary, who is running for the Tory leadership, said the Government “should have been quicker” in its response to riots taking place across England.
Number 10 rejected the criticism.