Elon Musk has shared a bizarre poll asking whether the US should “liberate” the UK from its government, in his latest attack on the Prime Minister and other Labour politicians. The 53-year-old billionaire and X CEO has recently shared several posts criticising the government over the country’s handling of the grooming gangs scandal.
Posting to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, January 6, Musk asked users whether “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government”. The poll has since been viewed over 1.1 million times, with answers heavily in favour of “yes” compared to “no”.
Musk has posted multiple times on grooming gangs, particularly hitting out at Labour MP Jess Phillips, after gangs of men groomed and sexually assaulted girls across the UK. He also criticised Sir Keir over alleged failures to prosecute gangs, reports the Mirror.
The Prime Minister previously ordered an overhaul of the Crown Prosecution Service’s response to grooming in 2012, to try and increase convictions. At the time, he said a generation of girls had been failed by a flawed justice system.
Phillips had formally denied requests for the Home Office to launch a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, but instead told Oldham Council to begin its own inquiry into the scandal in the town in October.
A similar request was also rejected by the Conservatives during the party’s time in power, who said it was for local authorities to carry out local inquiries.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting branded Musk’s comments a “disgraceful smear”. Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, he said: “It is a disgraceful smear of a great woman who has spent her life supporting victims of the kind of violence that Elon Musk and others say that they’re against.
“It’s all very easy to sit there and fire off something in haste and click send when people like Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have done the hard yards of actually locking up wife beaters, rapists and paedophiles.”
A national inquiry, which examined the offences of grooming gangs across the UK between 2010 and 2014, concluded in 2022. However, Professor Alexis Jay, who led the inquiry, expressed frustration in November that none of its 20 recommendations had been put in place in the two years since.
Critics of the government have praised Musk for drawing attention to the issue, arguing the probe did not go far enough, and have called for a more detailed investigation into the operations of these gangs
Musk has also voiced his support for Tommy Robinson, who has previously spoken about grooming gangs, and advocated for his release from prison. Robinson, also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month sentence after being found guilty of breaching a court order after showing a documentary including false claims about a young Syrian refugee.
The billionaire also took aim at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, suggesting the party needed a new leader after the veteran politician distanced himself from Robinson. It comes following speculation Musk was expected to donate over £100 million to the party following several supportive posts.
In another bizarre post, Musk asked whether King Charles III should “dissolve Parliament and order a General Election…for the sake and security of Britain. ” Musk then retweeted the X thread with the comment “yes.”
He has also been seen to attack various European governments and political figures while praising conservative populist or far-right parties, and has made substantial donations to the Republican Party in the recent US Presidential Election. While not officially associated with the government, he is partly in charge of the meme-inspired Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) a reference to the cryptocurrency known as dogecoin.
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