Keir Starmer will take on the attacks against him by Elon Musk and rightwing populists behind Donald Trump, in a key speech on Monday.
The prime minister is due to address NHS reform at a hospital in the south east of England this morning, but will also for the first time since the summer riots seriously address the social media campaign against his government being orchestrated by the tech billionaire.
It is understood that Sir Keir will be remaking the case for sensible centre ground politics after lurid claims that he and his ministers were “complicit” in “genocidal mass rape”, made by Musk. The wild claims were in reference to the decision not to hold a public inquiry into the mass grooming gangs operating in the north of England where white girls were allegedly targeted and raped by Asian men.
The X owner has latched on to the issue, even though there has already been an inquiry, in what seems to be a rightwing attempt to stir up race division. Separately, Musk has also openly backed the far right AfD in Germany and praised Italy’s rightwing prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
With the world’s richest man even abandoning Nigel Farage in favour of the far right Tommy Robinson, who he has shockingly described as a “political prisoner”, Sir Keir hopes a fightback will put some energy back into his government which has had a torid first six months in office since the election.
But Musk has made it clear that he is ready for attacks from Starmer and on Sunday night warned his social media followers to be ready for a “cringeworthy” response from the prime minister.
Shortly before the speech was due to start he also appeared to suggest that the Trump administration should try to actively remove the Starmer government posting an inflamatory poll question on X: “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government” – yes or no.
He also turned his fire on former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown retweeting an allegation that he had suggested the victims of grooming gangs “had made a lifestyle choice.”
Musk wrote: “Gordon Brown sold those little girls for votes.”
He quickly followed it up by claims that Trump had saved civilisation.
Musk posted: “Had this election not been won by @realDonaldTrump, civilization would be lost.”
The attacks on the prime minister started over the summer in the wake of the summer riots when Musk took the side of people found guilty of trying to stir up violence and racial division claiming they were political prisoners.
The X boss was also accused of spreading misinformation about the murders of girls in Southport which triggered the wave of violence in the Merseyside town and across England leading to an attempt to set fire to a hotel holding asylum seekers.
More follows on this breaking news story….