Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has accused Elon Musk of 'interfering in our politics' and attempting to create division, in a significant toughening of government language about 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 a response to the actions 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 in West Yorkshire earlier in the day, 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 saying its Grok tool had helped a user produce fake sexualised pictures of her. 'Jess Asato is absolutely right in the action she is taking. Disgusting images were created, in her particular case by Grok,' said Starmer.
The Prime Minister warned Musk's company it would face drastic regulatory action if it did not stop the flow of sexualised images, some of which featured children. 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 did not specify any particular posts from Musk that had raised concern, but it was understood to be based on the overall tone of his content, particularly over the Nowak case.
