Politics

Elon Musk accused of proposing US invasion to 'liberate Britain' in latest controversial Twitter/X poll

Elon Musk accused of proposing US invasion to 'liberate Britain' in latest controversial Twitter/X poll

Related video: Elon Musk attacks Sir Keir Starmer over grooming gangs scandal

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Despite the high likelihood of them being influenced by bots, Twitter/X owner Elon Musk has launched a number of online polls to help him make big decisions - from quitting as the platform’s CEO and reinstating Donald Trump’s account, to now, whether America should “liberate” Britain from its “tyrannical government”.

Yes, really.

It’s the latest example of Musk interfering with UK politics, as he continues to criticise Sir Keir Starmer over people being jailed for inflammatory social media posts during last year’s riots, and his government’s approach to the issues of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and grooming gangs.

The latter stems from safeguarding minister Jess Phillips refusing a request from Oldham Council for a Home Office-led inquiry into CSE in the Greater Manchester town, stating – per a report from GB News – that it is “for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry” locally.

Following that decision, Musk has called for the release of far-right criminal Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon); said Phillips should be imprisoned; and agreed that King Charles should unilaterally dissolve parliament.

Other baffling remarks from the billionaire, who’s set to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (or Doge) under US president-elect Donald Trump’s second administration, include demanding another UK general election and branding Starmer a “national embarrassment” who “must go”.

Oh, and after praising Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and saying only his political party can “save Britain”, Musk later said it needed a new leader as Farage “doesn’t have what it takes”.

And now it seems Musk is advocating for the US invasion of Great Britain, which has shocked social media users and led to them questioning if the tech entrepreneur has lost his mind:

One account reminded us that we’ve not even had a week of 2025 yet and this is where we’re at:

While another pointed out that Musk’s use of “Britain” could mean he has entirely different plans to Northern Ireland:

At the time of writing, ‘yes’ is leading the poll – which closes at around 6am GMT on Tuesday – with 68 per cent of the vote, with ‘no’ on almost 32 per cent.

When asked about the tweet following a speech on NHS reform on Monday, Starmer said he didn’t have any comment about that particular remark from Musk, but later condemned CSE as "utterly sickening" when pressed on the issue further.

The prime minister continued: “For many, many years, too many victims have been completely let down, let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else, and they've not been listened to, and they've not been heard.

“When I was chief prosecutor for five years, I tackled that head on … We changed the entire approach - not without criticism at the time, I might add - and when I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record.

“I also called for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse. I called for that a decade ago. The Tories did nothing about that for those 10 long years, including when the Jay report came out nearly three years ago … We're going to do it.”

Starmer then turned to those he said were “spreading lies and misinformation”, claiming they are “not interested in victims”.

“They're interested in themselves. Those who are cheerleading Tommy Robinson aren’t interested in justice; they’re supporting a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case - a gang grooming case.

“Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they've even dreamt about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse throughout her entire career, and so just as I took on the criminal justice system and the institutions when I was chief prosecutor, I'm prepared to call out this for what it is.

“We've seen this playbook many times, whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it, and Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody else to speak on her behalf, but when the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, in my book, a line has been crossed,” he said.

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