Elon Musk calls PM ‘two-tier Keir’ over police response to UK riots | Elon Musk

Elon Musk has called the prime minister “two-tier Keir” in reference to the conspiracy theory that police are treating white far-right “protesters” more harshly than minority groups.

The billionaire owner of X promoted the idea that has been spread by Tommy Robinson and the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage amid a series of far-right riots across towns and cities in England and in Belfast.

In a slew of tweets aimed at Keir Starmer, Musk, who is one of the world’s richest men, also questioned whether the riots were taking place in Britain or the Soviet Union, in response to a video purporting to show someone being arrested for making offensive comments on Facebook.

Musk’s provocative interventions come after Downing Street criticised him on Monday for posting that “civil war is inevitable” under a video of violent riots in Liverpool.

Starmer’s spokesperson said the violence came from a small minority of people who “do not speak for Britain” and said the prime minister did not share the sentiments of Musk, who has previously been criticised for allowing far-right figures back on to his social media platform.

“There’s no justification for comments like that,” the spokesperson said. “What we’ve seen in this country is organised, violent thuggery that has no place, either 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 and cleaning up the mess [and] the disruption of those that don’t speak for our country, and we’ve seen the response for people that do speak for our country. I think you can tell from that that the prime minister does not share those sentiments.”

Responding to the theory of “two-tier” policing that is circulating on social media, ministers dismissed claims that groups were being treated differently by police.

Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, posted on X on Tuesday: “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re protesting – if you turn up in a mask, with a weapon, intent on causing disorder, you will face the full force of the law. To those working with police and community organisations with pride and civic duty – you are the best of us.”

On Monday, Farage condemned the rioting on the streets, saying “the levels of intimidation and threat to life have no place in a functioning democracy”.

But he went on to claim there was a widespread impression of “two-tier policing”, which he said was contributing to a “sense of injustice”.