Nigel Farage distances himself from Elon Musk on Tommy Robinson
Reform UK chief Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Elon Musk’s help for jailed far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also referred to as Tommy Robinson.
The tech multi-billionaire added his voice to calls to launch Yaxley-Lennon, who was jailed in October after admitting contempt of courtroom by repeating false claims in opposition to a Syrian refugee.
Farage has been proud to point out off the help of Musk, flying to Florida to fulfill the proprietor of social media website X, who helped President-elect Donald Trump win the US election.
However Musk’s help for Yaxley-Lennon is uncomfortable for Farage, who has made it clear over plenty of years that he doesn’t need him in his political occasion.
Talking to Reform UK’s East Midlands convention in Leicester on Friday, Farage stated Musk had “a complete vary of opinions, a few of which I agree with very strongly, and others of which I’m extra reticent about”.
Nonetheless, Farage described Musk as a “exceptional new entrant” into American politics.
Musk, he stated, was a “hero” for purchasing Twitter. “A minimum of with Elon, we have free speech again,” he added.
Farage stated: “Whether or not we like every thing he says or not, he’s a hero.”
With Musk stated to be minded to provide Reform UK a sizeable donation, Farage believes he stays “very useful” to the occasion’s trigger.
On Friday, Well being Secretary Wes Streeting hit out at Musk’s assault on the federal government’s dealing with of grooming gangs, calling it “misjudged and definitely misinformed”.
Musk had posted a collection of messages on X, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped younger ladies, and calling for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.
Requested about his feedback, Streeting stated the federal government took “the difficulty of kid sexual exploitation extremely severely”.
The Tories have additionally criticised Musk for “sharing issues which can be factually inaccurate”.
