British politicians condemn Elon Musk's feedback at anti-migrant rally

[ad_1] LONDON -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned “harmful” feedback by Elon Musk after the X and Tesla proprietor instructed an anti-immigration rally that violence is coming to Britain they usually should combat or die. However the U.Ok. authorities resisted opposition calls to sanction Musk for the remarks.

Starmer denounced violence on the fringes of Saturday’s 100,000 or more-strong “Unite the Kingdom” demonstration in London organized by far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson .

Police mentioned 26 officers had been injured, 4 critically, as a minority among the many protesters tried to breach strains separating them from a smaller anti-racist counter-demonstration. There have been 25 individuals arrested on the occasion and the Metropolitan Police mentioned extra arrests would observe.

Addressing the demonstration by video hyperlink, Musk known as for the dissolution of Parliament and an early election to take away Starmer's center-left authorities. He instructed protesters “violence is coming to you” and “you both combat again otherwise you die.”

Starmer's spokesman, Dave Pares, mentioned he did not suppose "the British public can have any truck with that form of language.

“The U.Ok. is a good, tolerant and first rate nation, so the very last thing that British individuals need is harmful and inflammatory language which threatens violence and intimidation on our streets,” he mentioned.

Ed Davey, chief of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest occasion in Britain’s Parliament, urged Starmer, Conservative opposition chief Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK chief Nigel Farage to affix him in condemning Musk’s try “to sow discord and incite violence on our streets” and intervene with British democracy.

Davey urged Starmer to dam Tesla from getting authorities contracts.

Starmer's spokesman mentioned the federal government had no plans to sanction Musk over his feedback.

The prime minister wrote on X that peaceable protest “is core to our nation’s values. However we won't stand for assaults on cops doing their job or for individuals feeling intimidated on our streets due to their background or the colour of their pores and skin."

This isn't the primary time Musk, an erstwhile ally of President Donald Trump, has supported hard-right and far-right figures in Europe, together with Robinson, a convicted fraudster and founding father of the anti-Islam English Protection League whose actual identify is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and the Alternative for Germany occasion, or AfD.

Musk is also a critic of makes an attempt by the U.Ok. and different European governments to clamp down on dangerous on-line content material, one thing he argues restricts free speech.

Saturday's march was billed as an illustration in help of free speech, with lots of the speeches by influencers and far-right politicians from throughout Europe aimed largely on the supposed perils of migration.

It adopted rising political concern about unauthorized immigration, particularly the arrival of migrants throughout the English Channel in small boats . Greater than 30,000 individuals have made the harmful crossing from France thus far this yr regardless of efforts by authorities in Britain, France and different international locations to crack down on the people-smuggling gangs behind the journeys.

Using motels to accommodate asylum-seekers has develop into a serious political issued in Britain, sparking dozens of small but heated protests over the summer season, a few of which turned violent.

Most of the demonstrators waved the U.Ok.’s Union Jack or crimson and white St. George flag of England. In latest weeks, the flags have proliferated on lampposts, motorway bridges and street intersections across the nation as a part of a seemingly grassroots marketing campaign. Crimson crosses have additionally been painted on buildings in what some see as an intimidating gesture aimed toward ethnic minorities.

The St. George flag, particularly, is a posh image. It may specific patriotism and satisfaction when supporting England’s sports activities groups, however has at occasions been appropriated by anti-immigration protesters and the onerous proper. The flag featured closely at anti-asylum protests this summer season, which had been attended and in some instances organized by far-right activists.

“Flags can unite and divide as they're flown by individuals with totally different motives and meanings,” mentioned Sunder Katwala of British Future, a suppose tank that appears at points together with integration and nationwide identification.

James Freeman, a senior lecturer in political historical past on the College of Bristol, mentioned using flags “to intimidate or demark sure areas as being out of bounds” was a historic phenomenon, although the hyperlink between the St. George flag and the onerous proper is “comparatively latest.”

Starmer, who has expressed help for flying flags as symbols of nationwide satisfaction, wrote on X that “Britain is a nation proudly constructed on tolerance, range and respect. Our flag represents our various nation and we'll by no means give up it to those who use it as a logo of violence, concern and division.”