In his latest intervention into British politics, the tech billionaire said Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” and discussed potential successors. <br>Elon Musk stormed further into British politics on Sunday, urging Nigel Farage to stand aside as leader of the right-wing Reform UK party.<br>“The Reform Party <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1875904634419859928?t=_V_c_LGuIz9XrJxsqDyiyA&s=19" data-type="link" data-id="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1875904634419859928?t=_V_c_LGuIz9XrJxsqDyiyA&s=19" target="_blank">needs a new leader</a>,” Musk wrote on X, the social media site he owns. “Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”<br>Farage, for his part, <a href="https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1875918844562473373" data-type="link" data-id="https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1875918844562473373" target="_blank">said he disagreed</a> with the tech billionaire’s assessment and won’t be standing down, even while Musk mused on possible successors.<br>Musk’s strident criticism of centrist politicians like Prime Minister Keir Starmer (whom he <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1875935051118203274" target="_blank">called a “national embarrassment” who “must go”</a> on Sunday) is not unexpected — the Tesla entrepreneur’s politics have veered ever further to the right on race and migration in recent years, and he often <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/solve-problem-elon-musk-uk/">picks fights online with left-wing leaders</a>.<br>But his schism with Farage, a darling of the anti-immigration movement, is more surprising. Earlier on Sunday, when asked in a television interview about the insults and semi-truths Musk has thrown at Labour politicians, Farage defended Musk’s right to free speech.<br>At the same time, Farage <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-nigel-farage-far-right-tommy-robinson-elon-musk/">disagreed with Musk’s endorsement of fascist figurehead Tommy Robinson</a>, who is currently serving a prison sentence for contempt of court.<br>Musk has posted frequently <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-stick-to-us-politics-uk-blast/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-stick-to-us-politics-uk-blast/">about British politics</a> in recent days, often referring to the <a href="https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/sunday-crunch/musk-till-dawn/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/sunday-crunch/musk-till-dawn/">child sexual abuse scandal</a> in Rotherham, in which a gang of mostly British Asian men for decades abused mostly poor white girls while the authorities failed to intervene.<br>On Sunday, Musk tweeted harrowing passages from the <a href="https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/279/independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-exploitation-in-rotherham" target="_blank">independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham</a>. He also reposted statistics saying 80% of gang rapes in Britain are carried out Pakistani men. The original tweeter had incorrectly attributed the statistics to the “Cockbain report,” which doesn’t exist. The statistics were actually produced by the now-defunct Quilliam think tank, and have been <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/943955/Characteristics_of_group-based_child_sexual_exploitation_in_the_community__Literature_review.pdf" target="_blank">discredited</a>.<br>The tensions around the Rotherham scandal, and others like it from around the United Kingdom, contributed to race riots that took place in August, during which <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-minister-heidi-alexander-elon-musk-deplorable-race-riots/">Musk also clashed with the United Kingdom’s government</a>.<br>It’s around this scandal where Musk has found common ground with Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Both posit that there is an epidemic of sexual violence driven by immigrants from majority-Muslim countries, and their descendants.<br>Musk “has a <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-brand-uk-tyrannical-police-state/">whole range of opinions</a>, some of which I agree with very strongly, and others of which I’m <a href="https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/london-playbook-pm-making-plans-for-nigel/">more reticent about</a>,” Farage said on Friday.<br>In response to Musk’s call to stand down on Sunday, Farage tweeted: “<a href="https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1875918844562473373" data-type="link" data-id="https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1875918844562473373" target="_blank">Well, this is a surprise!</a> Elon is a remarkable individual, but on this I am afraid I disagree.”<br>Reveling in the online discussion he stoked as to Reform’s leadership, Musk responded to a post asking if MP Rupert Lowe should take over as Reform leader with: “I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online that I have read so far make a lot of sense.”<br>Speculation has been rife that the world’s richest man could make a significant financial intervention into U.K. politics, as he did in the 2024 American election which saw Donald Trump win and Musk gain the president-elect’s ear and a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/22/musk-ramaswamy-doge-threaten-innovation-00191102" target="_blank">role advising on a major government shake-up</a>.<br>Musk’s post that Reform would be better off without Farage — under whose leadership the party has seen electoral and political success — seems to throw into doubt any such injection of cash.<br>Conversely, Musk tweeted approvingly about a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14250725/KEMI-BADENOCH-expose-grooming-gangs-public-inquiry.html" target="_blank">piece written by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch</a> in the Mail on Sunday in which she called for a full public enquiry into the scandal of numerous separate gangs of Asian men abusing girls in towns around the country.<br>There have been several investigations into appalling abuse suffered by women and girls around Britain by gangs of pedophiles, including a <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/index.html" target="_blank">national-level enquiry in 2022</a> set up by the Conservative government.<br>Badenoch said she wants a new inquiry to “start by considering the likely racial or religious motivation of these crimes.”<br><em>This story has been updated.</em><br>U.S. president-elect said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conducted an “unfriendly takeover” of Syria, which Turkey has wanted “for thousands of years.”<br>TASS news service says deposed Syrian leader received protection on humanitarian grounds.<br>Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says Syrian dictator’s fate is a reminder that “even the most cruel regime may fall,” as Syrians dance in the streets across Europe.<br>The former German chancellor painted a scathing picture of the president-elect — and hinted at a playbook for dealing with him.<br><br><a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiwwFBVV95cUxPZEpnUjd1LXY5U2NuRmtRZFhncGYtUmVJWXJ5cDhTLUE1NnpvVjM4ZGk2ZUJXOXhIZU5PZW9ReURFNFR4U1VsRnhaa3g0dTVUTjB1S3BPNDZfelZtTjJ1OVlXbk1Wbm53enNZLW91cVJqLVJkanYwVmk2b1ptLXVzeTg2QmxQMi1kcWdKNG1VZFIwdFRwd2ZLSWdweGstV2N3aFZjYTZkV0xHTklpQ3l1QmYyQjE2NXljTm5YLVNRS0RPLU0?oc=5">source</a>
