Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has accused Elon Musk of “interfering in our politics” and attempting to “whip up division” in the UK, marking a significant toughening of government language towards the X owner. The comments follow weeks of posts by Musk on his social media platform about the murder of Henry Nowak, many of which have used far-right themes and talking points.
Starmer met Nowak’s family at Downing Street on Thursday to discuss the response of Hampshire police, who arrested the 18-year-old student as he lay dying from stab wounds after a false accusation of racist abuse by the killer. The Prime Minister said he had been “profoundly humbled” and promised to take “whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case”.
Speaking earlier in West Yorkshire, Starmer said Britain needed to “assert who we are” as “reasonable, tolerant people”. He also praised Labour MP Jess Asato, who is taking legal action against Musk’s xAI company after its Grok tool helped produce fake sexualised images of her. Asato has submitted a claim to the High Court in London, alleging breaches of data protection and misuse of private information.
Starmer said: “Jess Asato is absolutely right in the action she is taking. Disgusting images were created, in her particular case by Grok.” He added: “We also need to assert who we are as a country, because Musk again has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division. That is not who we are in Britain.”
The Hampshire Police Federation has suspended its social media platforms after “serious threats” against its members, with misidentified officers forced to leave their homes. Starmer’s spokesperson said the type of misinformation spreading online was a matter for Ofcom, the media regulator, but confirmed the government had no plans to stop posting on X.
