Additional Coverage:
- Elon Musk breaks silence after ex-UK PM orders Tesla CEO to ‘get the hell out of our country’ (irishstar.com)
UK Energy Secretary Condemns Elon Musk’s Interference in British Politics
LONDON — In a fiery address at the Labour conference on Wednesday, United Kingdom Energy Secretary Ed Miliband directly confronted billionaire Elon Musk, accusing him of meddling in British politics and inciting violence. Miliband’s strong rebuke comes after Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual, earlier this month called for the “dissolution of parliament” at a “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London, an event organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
During the rally, Musk reportedly referenced a “woke mind virus” and told the gathered conservative crowd that “violence is coming,” urging them to “either fight back or you die.”
Miliband did not mince words in his condemnation, stating that Musk represents “a global network who want to destroy the ties that bind our communities and our way of life.” He elaborated on his accusations, asserting, “He incites violence on our streets.
He calls for the overthrow of our elected government. He is an enabler of disinformation through X.
He thinks he can tell us how to run Britain.” The Energy Secretary concluded with a blunt message for the tech titan: “Conference, we have a message for Elon Musk: Get the hell out of our politics and our country.”
Musk, responding to a video clip of the speech, commented, “I’m making a difference or he wouldn’t care!”
The confrontation carries additional weight due to Miliband’s position as overseer of the U.K.’s energy sector. Tesla Energy Ventures, a subsidiary of Musk’s tech company, is currently seeking a license to become an electricity supplier to homes and businesses in Britain.
If successful, it could become a significant competitor to established utility companies like British Gas and Octopus Energy, according to Politico. Reports indicate that some Labour Members of Parliament and Liberal Democrat party members have urged Miliband to block the license.
This public clash is part of a broader pattern of Musk’s international political engagement. An NBC review from February detailed Musk’s encouragement of right-wing political movements and administrations in at least 18 countries across six continents over the past two years. These efforts reportedly represent a concerted push to limit business regulation and drastically reduce immigration.
Notable instances include Musk’s advice to AfD campaign members in Germany in January to “move beyond” Nazi guilt and the “sins of their parents.” He has also posted online in support of right-wing demonstrations in Ireland and Brazil, endorsed a conservative leader in New Zealand and a nationalist lawmaker in the Netherlands, and met multiple times with right-wing politicians in Italy and Argentina.
Rodrigo Campos, a postdoctoral political researcher at the University of York, told NBC that “Musk is succeeding in branding himself as a kind of global spokesperson of the far right.” Campos also highlighted an irony, noting that while far-right leaders often seek to protect nations from outside influences, Musk, a “billionaire who built his wealth from transnational corporate capital,” is effectively “the product of neoliberal globalization.”
During the same Labour party conference, Miliband also vowed to ban fracking and labeled Reform U.K., the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage, as “ideological extremists.” He characterized Farage and his associates as “the investment crushing, job destroying, bill raising, poverty driving, science denying, Putin appeasing, young people betraying bunch of ideological extremists.”