Musk vs. Farage, says he should resign as leader of Reform UK party

(Patria) - Elon Musk said Nigel Farage should resign as leader of the British right-wing
Reform UK party in a sudden withdrawal of support from the American billionaire for the Brexit advocate who is once again trying to shake up the British political establishment, Reuters reported.

“Reform UK needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” Musk said on his X social network on Sunday, hours after Farage described him as a friend who made the Reform UK party look “cool”.

Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, seemingly supported Farage and posed with him last month. Reform UK won 4.1 million votes or 14% of the total in the July general election last year and five seats in parliament.

Farage had previously said he was in talks with Musk about the billionaire donating to Reform UK to help it challenge the dominant Labour and Conservative parties. However, Farage distanced himself from comments Musk made in support of British anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, who is serving a prison sentence for contempt of court.

Farage responded to Musk's post on Sunday, saying: “Well, this is a surprise! Elon is an extraordinary person, but I’m afraid I disagree. My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell my principles.”

Last month, Musk supported Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party designated as right-wing extremist by German security services, ahead of national elections in February.

Musk has previously attempted to influence British politics and has criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer on several occasions since the anti-immigration unrest last summer.

The Tesla founder last week supported calls for the Crown Prosecution Service to launch a national investigation into the handling of child grooming cases by men of Pakistani origin, which Starmer led.

A 2014 investigation found that at least 1,400 children had been subjected to sexual exploitation in Rotherham, in northern England, between 1997 and 2013.

The Times reported that Starmer was expected to address the criticism at a press conference on Monday, saying he gave the green light for the prosecution of grooming gangs in 2013 and reformed the way prosecutors handle child abuse cases. But he is unlikely to directly criticize Musk given the billionaire's closeness to Trump, the newspaper wrote.

British Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended Starmer and another member of his cabinet, Jess Phillips, on Sunday, who had incurred Musk's wrath for allegedly saying that any new investigation into another case of gang rape should be handled by local authorities.

“It’s very easy to sit there and fire something off in a rush and click ‘send’ when people like Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have done the hard yards of actually locking up wife beaters, rapists and paedophiles,” Streeting told the BBC.