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It’s been quite the twenty-four hours in British politics. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has spent much of it lambasting the Labour Party on Twitter/X over its decision not to hold a government inquiry into child abuse in Oldham. But has he now gone too far? The Tesla founder has posted numerous claims calling for the release of far-right protester Tommy Robinson, jailed last year for contempt of court.
It begged the obvious question: would Reform UK — Musk’s preferred party of choice in Britain — take up Robinson’s cause too? When Cockburn put the question to Reform spinners, the answer that came back was unequivocal: no, given his onetime membership of the English Defence League. But it was left to leader Nigel Farage to field questions about Musk’s backing of Robinson last night. Speaking to GB News after a rally in Leicester, Farage said of Musk:
He’s very supportive of me. He’s very supportive of the party. He sees Robinson as one of these people that fought against the grooming gangs. But of course the truth is Tommy Robinson is in prison, not for that, but for contempt of court for the third occasion. But I mean, equally, there are people in Britain who think that Robinson is a political prisoner. That’s the narrative that he’s pushed out. That’s how he earns his living. But it isn’t quite true.
Host Christopher Hope then pressed the Reform UK leader on whether he would accept Robinson as a member of his party. Hope pointed out that Farage had previously quit UKIP after it appointed Robinson as an advisor back in 2018. To this, the Clacton MP responded thus:
No, no. Robinson has been to prison many, many times for many, many things. Mortgage fraud, passport problems, you name it. He’s got his own campaign. We are a political party aiming to win the next general election. He’s not what we need.
Will that be the end of that?
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