Musk’s interventions in British politics recently – and also in German, Canadian and (of course) American affairs – are clearly worrying. In the first place many of them are misinformed, especially the ones blaming Starmer and his ‘Safeguarding’ Minister Jess Phillips for covering up child-rape gang crimes: Phillips to the extent of claiming that she should be sent to prison for being (I quote) ‘a rape genocide apologist’. He also thinks that King Charles should prorogue Parliament to enable another general election; in which he has indicated that he would generously finance the ‘Reform UK’ Party (or Limited Company) in order to propel his new friend (but vide infra) Nigel Farage into Number 10.
All these indicate two things: a very weak grasp of British constitutional politics, as well as of ‘truth’ in the cases he makes against Starmer and Phillips (who surely have grounds for libel actions against him); and secondly, what is now revealed as his extreme right-wing approach to politics generally, putting him in the company not only of Farage, but also of Trump, Meloni in Italy, the AfD in Germany, and probably Putin. In Sweden (where I’m living) he’s currently in conflict with the powerful trade unions over workers’ rights (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/01/one-year-on-we-know-this-swedens-trade-unions-are-more-than-a-match-for-elon-musk); which makes him persona non grata here. He has also alienated liberals worldwide with his views on gender issues, sparked by one of his children’s seeking re-assignment from male to female, and what she has described as his cruelty to her over this (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-transgender-daughter-vivian-wilson-interview-rcna163665). He has recently positioned himself as one of the most prominent members of a movement pledged to eradicate what he sees as the ‘woke mind virus’ in America and elsewhere (https://wng.org/opinions/a-vow-to-destroy-the-woke-mind-virus-1722103194). So we know where he stands philosophically.
Where does all this come from? And why is he now particularly targeting the UK? It could of course be his South African birth (in 1971) and early upbringing: ‘white’ South Africans are not particularly noted for having liberal ideas, and may still resent their former British masters for their role (eventually) in ending apartheid. His parents were wealthy, which enabled him to enrol at prestigious universities in Canada and the USA, whose citizenship he acquired in 2002. Thereafter he made his huge personal fortune – he’s reputed to be America’s, or even the world’s, richest person – in the high-tec industry. (All this can be followed up in his Wiki entry.) His political influence today comes through his acquisition in 2023 of the social networking service Twitter, now renamed simply ‘X’; and his very recent public support of President-Elect Trump, whose administration he’s hoping to join – although they don’t agree on everything: immigration, for example. He regards the English racist activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (who hides behind the more normal-sounding moniker of ‘Tommy Robinson’: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Robinson), as a defender of ‘free speech’ and a British patriot, and has pleaded for his release from prison on these grounds. (He disagrees with Farage on this; and also – according to reports today – on his leadership abilities: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigeln-farage-elon-musk-reform-b2674035.html). This indicates a surprisingly close interest in what might be regarded as the minutiae of British politics, for someone who has had little or no personal experience of the country, and can only have been briefed at a distance by fellow Rightists there. Their main channel seems to have been our ‘Nige’, who is cuddling up to him too, proudly – and profitably, if Musk comes up with the dosh he is said to have promised to ‘Reform UK’. Or was, until today: vide supra.
Of course capitalists have always tried to influence politics; but none – that I can think of in British history – quite as openly and personally as Musk. (Cecil Rhodes may be the closest. South African, again.) You can understand some of the intrinsically ‘capitalist’ reasons for this: democratic accountability is often regarded as an unnecessary hindrance to the free play of market forces, especially under Labour, whose election to government last summer – against the global Right-wing trend – is what seems to have ignited his attacks on Britain.
For a Marxist all this must make sense. This is a late stage in the development of capitalism, and a problematic one, when one might expect to see its power revealed more blatantly: in this case with the richest capitalists emerging into the setting (?) sun, and taking personal control. If Marx was right, this should presage the system’s final collapse, under the weight of its own contraditions. Of course it won’t. With any luck men like Musk, Trump and Farage will be tamed, and life will go on.
I used to be a bit of a fan of Elon’s, especially his environmental cars, which could help prevent climate Armageddon; and his spaceships, which – if that didn’t work – might enable earthlings to escape, and the best creations of our culture (Mozart et al) to be preserved for ever in galaxies far away. But now I’ve gone right off him.
Porter’s Pensées 
While Musk has been suggesting that Reform needs a new leader, Robert Jenrick seems to have been auditioning for the role judging by his recent grooming gang rhetoric. He may still be in the Conservative party, but he wanted to appoint Rees-Mogg, a believer in an electoral pact with Reform, as party chairman and his supporter Daniel Hannan is still pushing for ECHR withdrawal.
Jenrick’s presence as shadow Justice Minister is an indication of Kemi Badenoch’s weakness. Her position is partly the result of her own mistakes, partly the result of her own ideology, and partly the result of what I think are strategic misjudgements by others.
Badenoch’s lack of concrete ideas, scattergun approach to PMQs and her bizarre war on sandwiches have been avoidable mistakes made all the more important by the mood of apprehension in her own party about the rise of Reform. Her own uber-Thatcherite ideology, and the previous government’s record, leave her unable to take advantage of the open goals offered by the winter fuel payments and WASPI women rows. Finally, the refusal of most Tory moderates to join her shadow cabinet has left her more dependent on her former leadership rival Jenrick than she apparently wanted to be. That is particularly evident on immigration, where her own approach (content to stay within ECHR, avoiding targets, strongly assimilationist) is being squeezed between Reform, Jenrick the enemy within, and a Labour government content to irresponsibly ramp up the rhetoric (describing the last government’s policies as an “open borders experiment”) because of its own fear of Reform.
The chagrin of Hunt and Cleverly is understandable but I fear that it is dangerous politics. Their plan seems to be to wait to see Badenoch fail and then reclaim the party for the moderates. Unfortunately, they may find that if Badenoch does fail then the main beneficiary will be Reform, and their only option will be to up sticks to the Lib Dems.
Now there is a sense in which I think it would be a bad thing for Badenoch to fail. To be clear, I am not suggesting it would be good for her to be in government; I think she would be a more reckless version of Thatcher and would do untold harm. However, I do think it would be better for UK politics for her to see off Reform. Not only Elon Musk, but parts of the Tory press and probably many Tory members are flirting with the idea of a Reform-led opposition. We are already seeing the consequences of this: Starmer hesitates to agree a deal with the EU over freer movement for young people because it would give Reform ammunition, even though a deal would bring economic compensations. Even worse could follow: at some point a Reform-led government might be elected (all the more easily under first-past-the-post).
There is a counterargument to this. In Spain Pedro Sánchez profited from the conservative PP’s alliance with ultra-right Vox to thwart a PP victory in 2023, mobilising left-wing voters to keep Vox out of government. Perhaps some Labour strategists would prefer Reform as opponents in order to scare centrists into Labour’s camp. However, there are serious differences from the UK in Spain, notably the memory of the Franco dictatorship and the proportional Spanish system. In France the populist ultra-nationalists have become the dominant force on the right of politics. I would hate to see that happen in the UK.
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