Elon Musk is reportedly planning to make a $100 million donation to Reform UK as a “fuck you” to Keir Starmer.
According to the Sunday Times, the tech billionaire could funnel the cash through the British arm of his social media platform X to get round rules banning foreigners from giving money to British parties.
If Labour had any sense it would take this threat very seriously and then do four things:
1) Ban corporate gifts above £5,000 to any political party in a year, treating a company and all its related entities as one company for this purpose.
2) Ban any gift to a political party of more than £5,000 from a person and their related parties in a year.
3) Start the state funding of political parties, within strictly limited budgets.
4) Begin electoral reform.
That is what I would expect any democrat to do. The system is clearly at risk from Musk.
Will Labour take action? Who knows. But we will know they don't reality believe in democracy if they don't.
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I would have thought Musk would like to fund the Labour Party as well, given that it is doing such a good job of driving people into the arms of the far-right.
This is merely the most visible and egregious example of foreign far-right interference in UK politics in recent years. Limiting funding for political parties would be a great start, but shadowy ‘think tanks’ are also a serious problem.
Agree 100%. LINO could also (it won’t) declare Musk an enemy of the British state (which he is).
Same for Farage. Next time he leaves to spout off in foreign parts. And if he comes back then his passport to be cancelled and detain him until further notice.
I do not think that appropriate
In my view Farage is merely a symptom of disaffection with politics generally, as are far right demagogues around the world. Truly left wing politics seem to have been expunged from political discourse. In the UK for instance we have a choice between right and far right options and this is down to the success of neo-liberalism and the mantra of private good, public bad. The privatisation of public services and squeezing of budgets has left many people (the majority?) not feeling any improvement in their living standards for years now and the prospect of young people ever getting on the housing ladder disappearing over the horizon while paying extortionate rents (a poll on Sky News this morning indicated that 20% to 35% of 16 to 24 year olds would vote for Reform now). Meanwhile these same struggling people see the fantastic wealth of the small percentage of people who are taking full advantage of Globalisation on the one hand and lack of confidence by Governments to properly fund public services. Is it any wonder that democracy is at risk.
I’m currently reading a Ken Follet novel ‘Fall of Giants’ the background to which is the First World War. The Tsarist regime in Russia is about to be toppled because they treated their subjects with disdain, just as Louis XVI did with the French people in the 18th. century. It seems Governments never learn the lessons of history and are still ‘letting them eat cake’.
I agree with Richard because……..what ever the myriad faults of Farage – he is a Uk citizen & full time imbecile – but that is his right (being a full time inbecile). By contrast, Musk is a foreign alien that wants to interfere/influence the democratic processes in the UK for his own ends. If the Uk state had balls (it doesn’t) it would be made clear that if he flies in UK airsapce Musk would be pulled down and imprisoned & Brians “pleasure”.
What is his actual crime?
You are right about the required electoral reform….. but I can’t help thinking that Musk’s donation would actually turn out to be a gift to Labour given the low regard in which Musk is held in the UK.
Indeed, such a gift would be a PR (public relations!) gift to Labour and other parties in the UK.
But Musk will be smarter: large sums will go via think tanks, media influencers, ‘algorithm managers’, data miners and the like; or by giving preferential contracts to British associates to hide the paper trail of corrupt influence as much as possible. As ever… follow the money (if we can…)
I hope that it might create a wave of repulsion against Reform for taking massive amounts of foreign money
Thank you, Richard.
Richard: “Will Labour take action? Who knows. But we will know they don’t reality believe in democracy if they don’t.”
I don’t think Labour will act. Firstly, Labour sucks up (to Wall Street, the wealthy etc.) and kicks down (others). Secondly, many of the new and recent generation of Labour Party members, e.g. the Labour in the City Network, and officials have come from these proxies funding parties and / or want to work for them. Turkeys, Christmas etc.
I fear you are right.
If Labour does not deliver “direct tangible benefit” to UK households, people will vote Reform in the next election with or without a $100 million dollar Musk donation to Nigel Farage.
Starmer and his cabinet are like rabbits in the headlights. Utterly clueless as the reality of far right money media and mendacity bear down on them.
They had four years to prepare for this but they look completely shocked as every new event rocks them to their core.
I guarantee that Labour will do nothing, zero, nada, zip fuckin all about this their incompetence is all consuming and as I and others have said they will be the midwife to a reform government of that I am now convinced.
A £100 million donation/gift to a private limited company?
Hmmm. Surely this could be spun/reported in a suitable way to point out that Reform isn’t actually a proper political party, but just a private limited company whose majority shareholding was given to Farage?
Buttonhole him, ask him what sort of dividend he is thinking of paying himself – that sort of thing!
It would be a waste of Musk’s money.
A hundred million quid would pay Farage’s tailors’ bills for wot, three years?
I’m simply horrified at Musk’s idea that he can buy a UK election. Maybe I’m naive, but I would expect many Reform supporters to agree with me. Also the majority of other voters.
“Musk’s idea that he can buy a UK election..” shouldn’t surprise any of us: he’s already bought his way into the Oval Office of the White House and gets to sit-in on the President-Elect’s conversations with world leaders. When Trump takes office, Musk, an unelected individual, will have enormous influence on US Politics and its Government. We are entering a world where power is increasingly concentrated and owned by the far-right; a world where fiction cannot be distinguished from fact, where truth ceases to have meaning and where the law will be undermined by the absence of truth.
Robin McAlpine wrote a piece in yesterday’s National newspaper outlining Scotland’s stark choice between independence or being subsumed in a far-right “United” Kingdom. Musk’s financing of Reform UK (it’s a limited company, so technically it doesn’t have to disclose funding) only underlines the urgent need for the UK to strengthen its laws and regulations around funding. Personally I don’t see that happening quickly enough, in which case UK will re-run Germany’s failure to constrain the Nazis before the damage is done. McAlpine’s sub-heading sums up Scotland’s options perfectly: “Independence is very much the best chance we have of preventing a far-right future.”
I agree with Robin, not for the first time.
Most US cabinet members over time have been unelected and the president has a whole host of political appointees he can make, so Musk is no different to these people, except in two important respects: his wealth and the fact he will never take a job that would subject him to vetting and confirmation by Congress. He wants the power but not the accountability.
And that is a pretty big issue.
Welcome to the neoliberal tech bro oligarchy. Very dangerous clever dicks in Hawaiian shirts and cowboy boots. Nigel will be the least of our worries.
Your proposals should have been implemented long ago. Too much damage has already been done. If Labour doesn’t react to this most blatant and extreme threat from Musk, then they really have gone over to the dark side.
Labours whole strategy has been to get rid of members and their subscriptions, and replace them with ‘donations’ from vested interests – oil pharma food healthcare.
Of course – as Richard and many others have pointed out , our politics is corrupt from top to bottom – most main parties awash with private money. Bribery for contracts, honours, peerages, etc etc
If Musk forces Labour to face up to this so much the better – but we all know they wont.
Don’t forget offshore hedge funds
I argued for the same four things on a Facebook post. The only reason I take up your time is the response of a number of people who argued that state funding of parties would be undemocratic , would to lead to corruption !! and, also, ‘why should I pay for parties I don’t support?’
My reply was that I looked the sums involved at the moment and with an allowance for members’ donations, we could do it for about £60 million a year. I expect others would come up with different figures. That would be a cost of £2 per taxpayer for a less corrupt politics. You can’t buy a coffee for less than that round my way.
The other task for a more genuine democracy is to better regulate the tabloids and other media. They thrive on the sort of issues Musk stands for.
Roosevelt wanted a world safe for democracy -not one safe for billionaires.
Munich to agree with in your sentiments on this
‘Munich’ to agree with?
And people are not terrified by the march of Artificial Intelligence? I am.
Richard writes:
1) Ban corporate gifts above £5,000 to any political party in a year, treating a company and all its related entities as one company for this purpose.
2) Ban any gift to a political party of more than £5,000 from a person and their related parties* in a year.
This should include think tanks, charities etc.* One should consider how US rules are bypassed.
Agreed
Labour won’t do anything because they are fundamentally corrupt – and nothing will be done about the corruption at the heart of the UK government. It’s now deeply embedded. MPs fully expect to be compensated above and beyond their salaries by whomever, or whatever organisation, is willing to cough up with no possibility of facing legal consequences.
Labour’s reaction – even if not spoken about – will be one of great disappointment that someone who has Musk’s wherewithal is not sending $100m in their direction.
People wondered why Starmer, with a big grin on his face, crossed the floor in the House of Commons to speak to Farage the other day. He’s hoping Farage will be his new best buddy – the one with the money.
The problem with your points 1-4, is that their current absence provides the principal functional mechanisms through which the Single Transferable Party preserves its political monopoly of power.
We are nearing Christmas, and the turkeys are never going to vote for being stuffed.
Thank you, John. We think alike on this issue.
What amazes me is that having said in plain sight that he is effectively going to outspend any opposition, many voters will read the on line lies Musk’s funding may well produce at scale and not make the connection between the online content they consume and which determines their vote and Musk’s involvement.
Whither democracy………?
I think this is a major issue. For example, illegal spending in the last few weeks of the Brexit campaign delivered a win for Leave. A chart of poll data shows a massive and temporary swing to Leave over that timescale, with a drift back to a Remain balance in the succeeding couple of months. Advertising spend works!
To put this in perspective, Statistica show that Conservative donations in 2019 were, £53 million, and £38 million in 2023, whilst Labour donations were about £25 million and £22 million for the same years. Bearing in mind that these parties get income in other years (albeit somewhat less) a roughly £80 million, one off, donation from Musk to Reform is not hugely out of line.
The shows the level of corruption by all the parties and the need for state funding to prevent this.
The duopoly between Conservatives and Labour is not democratic. Whilst I deplore all these parties, such a donation from Musk would only level the playing field. 🙁
Hang on….
First it is massive
And individually it is off any previous scale
Yes. It is off the scale. It distorts UK politics. It is unacceptable.
I simply point out that the other neoliberal parties receive similar funds, albeit it over time and from multiple donors.
They are all corrupt and we need a change.
🙁
Mr Kent’s quantified comparison does remind everyone that in Britain it takes at least £20m to play the conventional game in the same league as the big boys in Parliament. Who can compete? Nobody else in British politics. The Single Transferable Party has it all sown up, unless somebody steps in and blows it apart with £100m.
In short, it isn’t a level playing field, it is wide open to foreign intervention and manipulation; and – money does all the talking; but this simple comparison valuably brings a simple clarity about the nature of our politics, and blows away all the guff about the standards and values inherent in British politics; that was bought and sold long ago.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I will admit to being a bit of an amateur collapsologist. I cannot help but think of the collapse and disintegration of all previous societies, from the Roman and Mongol Empires to the French and Russian revolutions. The only questions are how and when and will humanity come out the other side in a better state. One things for sure though – Keir Starmer and the Labour Party will not survive!
38 degrees’ petition about this is doing pretty well, over 20,000 have signed and it only came out in the last couple of hours.
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/britain-is-not-for-sale
I’m curious as to why Elon Musk would want to have great influence in UK politics. Are we that important? I thought we weren’t any more and the ‘special relationship’ was bunk. (?)
Obviously I’m missing something.
I was more comfortable when Elon Musk had his ambitions focussed on Mars.
It’s the destruction of democracy