Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Elon Musk’s support for jailed far-right activist Stephen Yaxley Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
Tech multi-billionaire joins calls for Yaxley-Lennon’s release He was sent to jail in October. After pleading guilty to contempt of court by repeating false claims against a Syrian refugee.
Farage is proud to show support for Musk, flying to Florida to meet the owner of social media site X, which helped President-elect Donald Trump win the US election.
But Musk’s support for Yaxley-Lennon is unpalatable to Farage, who has made it clear for years that he does not want him in his party.
Speaking at the Reform UK East Midlands conference in Leicester on Friday, Farage said Musk had “a whole range of opinions, some of which I strongly agree with, and others which I disagree with. Be more interested.”
Nonetheless, Farage called Musk a “remarkable new entrant” into American politics.
He said Musk was a “hero” for buying Twitter. “At least with Alvin, we’ve got free speech back,” he added.
Farage said: “Whether we like everything about him or not, he is a hero.”
When Musk was told he was considering a big donation to Reform UK, Farage believed he was “very helpful” to the party’s cause.
Health Secretary Weiss on Friday Musk’s attack on the government’s handling of grooming gangs sparked street fire.calling it “misinformed and certainly misinformed”.
Musk posted a series of messages on X, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped young girls. And called for Minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.
Asked about his comments, Stretting said the government “took the issue of child sexual abuse incredibly seriously”.
The Tories have also criticized Musk for “sharing things that are factually incorrect”.