Opinion | Elon Musk's corrosive adventurism into British politics

By Tom Fowdy

Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk has decided to poke his nose into British politics. Fresh off the hubris of having potentially swayed the election in favor of Donald Trump, turning the social media platform into a full-on MAGA cheerleader, Musk has now turned his sights to across the Atlantic, believing he can exert the same kind of influence in the United Kingdom.

Over the past few weeks, Musk has penned hundreds of posts boosting right-wing populist party Reform UK while also taking aim at the Labour government of Keir Starmer for its "role" in the Rotherham grooming gangs scandal which surfaced about ten years ago. The scandal, which has long been a point of tension in Britain and a focal point for the right, alleges that grooming gangs around the South Yorkshire area were able to sexually abuse thousands of children from the 1980s to the early 2000s with impunity because of "political correctness."

While there is some truth into this, as the Jay Enquiry held by the Rotherham Council found in 2014, interest in the scandal has been opportunistically weaponized with the goal of undermining Keir Starmer's government as he was the director of public prosecutions at the time, with the Crown Prosecution Service having been criticized for its apparent indecisiveness in prosecuting some of the individuals involved. Of course, what does Elon Musk know about this issue in depth? And moreover, what does he know about British politics as a whole? The answer is not much, yet here we are, and with the power of his platform he has been able to dramatically sway press coverage in Britain to follow the issue accordingly, putting the government under pressure.

I believe that British politics is at a juncture for the worst right now. First, it is my observation that nationalist radicalization amongst the white working classes is growing, hence the explosion of anger into the riots of August 2024, with my hometown of Sunderland being a center stage for it. Although many people were jailed for their role in those riots, it has nonetheless had a radicalizing effect and there is no sign of it going away. The fundamental causes of this include the total economic stagnation of the UK, coupled with skyrocketing inflation and costs of living. The country is getting poorer due to the disastrous policy decisions taken by the previous government.

These unfavourable economic conditions are coupled with ethnic and social change, all of which are driving a new wave of nationalistic resentment, which owing to the events of August, has become duly targeted against the Keir Starmer government and contributed to his growing unpopularity despite only being in power six months. Labour's unpopularity has been juxtaposed with the political weakness of the Conservative Party due to its previous legacy in office, which has concurrently allowed the populist right to become stronger than in any point in British history.

While David Cameron was able to contain the rise of UKIP in the short-term by capitalizing on their political space with the EU Referendum (a move that backfired in the long term), the subsequent disarray of the party amidst the shambolic legacies of Boris, Liz and Rishi have thus allowed Reform's "breakout" into the mainstream which has harvested this growing cohort of disillusioned voters. Now, Elon Musk sees the opportunity to use his platform to try and shoehorn Farage's party through into becoming one of the biggest forces in British politics.

However, there is little inclination to believe Elon truly knows what he is doing and his tweets are best described as a series of ill-informed, narcissistic rants from a man who clearly enjoys the sound of his own voice so much. Although it would be naïve to dismiss him as having no influence given the size of the platform he dominates and its subsequent media ripple effects, it has been pointed out in polls that 64% of the British public have a negative view of Musk, and of course the political environment he is attempting to operate in by proxy is hardly comparable to the United States. It seems improbable he could engineer a future Reform triumph singlehandedly.

Still, there are many risks manifest. Musk's comments are actively throwing petrol on the bonfire of British political polarisation, are feeding tensions, and increasing the probability of further unrest. Conflict and division in British politics is growing even without the Elon Musk factor, egged on by a very right wing media. It is already my personal belief that unless the economy is improved, the trend towards ethno-nationalist unrest amongst certain communities seems unavoidable. What Britain ultimately needs is a leader strong willed enough not to veer to the right, but to act with prudence to maintain the integrity of its political system and society, striving to maintain harmony between different communities and the wellbeing of all. Many people don't think Keir Starmer is capable of doing that, and an Elon Musk led right-wig coup d'état against British politics certainly isn't the answer.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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