By JILL LAWLESS and LYDIA DOYE, Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned “dangerous” comments by Elon Musk after the X and Tesla owner told an anti-immigration rally that violence is coming to Britain and they must fight or die. But the U.K. government 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 said 26 officers were injured, four seriously, as a minority among the protesters tried to breach lines separating them from a smaller anti-racist counter-demonstration. There were 25 people arrested at the event and the Metropolitan Police said more arrests would follow.
Addressing the demonstration by video link, Musk called for the dissolution of Parliament and an early election to remove Starmer’s center-left government. He told protesters “violence is coming to you” and “you either fight back or you die.”
Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, said he didn’t think “the British public will have any truck with that kind of language.
“The U.K. is a fair, tolerant and decent country, so the last thing that British people want is dangerous and inflammatory language which threatens violence and intimidation on our streets,” he said.
Calls to sanction Musk
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest party in Britain’s Parliament, urged Starmer, Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to join him in condemning Musk’s attempt “to sow discord and incite violence on our streets” and interfere with British democracy.
Davey urged Starmer to block Tesla from getting government contracts.
Starmer’s spokesman said the government had no plans to sanction Musk over his comments.
The prime minister wrote on X that peaceful protest “is core to our country’s values. But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the color of their skin.”
This is not the first time Musk, an erstwhile ally of President Donald Trump, has supported hard-right and far-right figures in Europe, including Robinson, a convicted fraudster and founder of the anti-Islam English Defense League whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD.
Musk also is a critic of attempts by the U.K. and other European governments to clamp down on harmful online content, something he argues restricts free speech.
Saturday’s march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech, with many of the speeches by influencers and far-right politicians from across Europe aimed largely at the supposed perils of migration.
It followed growing political concern about unauthorized immigration, especially the arrival of migrants across the English Channel in small boats. More than 30,000 people have made the dangerous crossing from France so far this year despite efforts by authorities in Britain, France and other countries to crack down on the people-smuggling gangs behind the trips.
The use of hotels to accommodate asylum-seekers has become a major political issued in Britain, sparking dozens of small but heated protests over the summer, some of which turned violent.
Flying the flag
Many of the demonstrators waved the U.K.’s Union Jack or red and white St. George flag of England. In recent weeks, the flags have proliferated on lampposts, motorway bridges and road intersections around the country as part of a seemingly grassroots campaign. Red crosses have also been painted on buildings in what some see as an intimidating gesture aimed at ethnic minorities.
The St. George flag, in particular, is a complex symbol. It can express patriotism and pride when supporting England’s sports teams, but has at times been appropriated by anti-immigration protesters and the hard right. The flag featured heavily at anti-asylum protests this summer, which were attended and in some cases organized by far-right activists.
“Flags can unite and divide as they are flown by people with different motives and meanings,” said Sunder Katwala of British Future, a think tank that looks at issues including integration and national identity.
James Freeman, a senior lecturer in political history at the University of Bristol, said the use of flags “to intimidate or demark certain areas as being out of bounds” was a historical phenomenon, though the link between the St. George flag and the hard right is “relatively recent.”
Starmer, who has expressed support for flying flags as symbols of national pride, wrote on X that “Britain is a nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.”
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