Keir Starmer has accused Elon Musk of “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division, marking a significant toughening of the government’s language regarding the X owner. The prime minister’s comments came during a visit to Yorkshire, where he was meeting mayors from English regions.
Starmer’s Response to Musk’s Actions
Speaking on Wednesday, Starmer said: “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.” He emphasised that Britons are “reasonable, tolerant people” and backed a Labour MP’s legal action against Musk’s XAI company over fake sexualised images.
The prime minister’s remarks 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. Musk has repeatedly argued that the case shows the UK is biased against white people.
Legal Action Against Grok
Starmer praised Labour MP Jess Asato, who is taking legal action against Musk’s XAI company after its Grok tool helped a user produce fake sexualised pictures of her. This is part of a wave of such images that flooded X earlier this year.
“Jess Asato is absolutely right in the action she is taking. Disgusting images were created, in her particular case by Grok,” said Starmer. He warned that Musk’s company would face drastic regulatory action if it did not stop the flow of sexualised images, some of which featured children.
Starmer added: “I am really pleased that we took Grok on a few months ago, because that is the fight we should be in, taking on some of these platforms providers and some of these disgusting images, really disgusting. We won that. But Jess is right, she is a parliamentarian. I am 100% behind the action that she has taken.”
Murder of Henry Nowak
The case of Henry Nowak has been exploited by far-right groups. Nowak, 18, was arrested by police as he lay dying from stab wounds inflicted by Vickrum Digwa. The police watchdog is examining the conduct of the officers who handcuffed him. Digwa had falsely claimed he was racially abused and attacked by Nowak.
On Tuesday night, crowds including far-right agitators attacked police officers in Southampton in a protest about Nowak’s death and his treatment by police. Eleven police officers and one police dog were injured.
Musk’s Far-Right Support
Musk is a regular poster of ethno-nationalist content and is a strong supporter of Restore Britain, the far-right party set up by Rupert Lowe, the former Reform UK leader. Starmer’s comments reflect growing concern about Musk’s influence on UK politics.
In a claim submitted to the high court in London, Asato said xAI breached laws connected to data protection and the misuse of private information by letting users prompt Grok to create such images. Asato has said that as well as creating images of her in a bikini, Grok also produced a video “showing her being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault”.
Starmer concluded: “In Britain we are reasonable, tolerant people. When we have a terrible case like Henry’s case, we react calmly as his family has done. When it comes to disgusting images on Grok, we take Grok on and fight because that’s who we are as a country.”
