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A former police chief has told Elon Musk to ‘stick to batteries, cars and rockets’ after the billionaire used his X platform to start a war of words with Sir Keir Starmer over Britain’s riots crisis.
Sir Thomas Winsor, whose role saw him oversee the efficiency of police services in England and Wales between 2012 and 2022, also said claims that protests in the UK are subject to ‘two-tier policing’ are unfounded.
Musk has promoted the idea of different approaches to policing based on race, a concept which has been spread by Tommy Robinson and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage amid a series of far-right riots across UK cities.
The Prime Minister announced on Monday that a so-called ‘standing army’ of 6,000 specialist officers will be ready by the end of the week.
Sir Thomas took aim at comments made by Musk, who called the Prime Minister ‘two-tier Keir’ in a series of tweets on Tuesday and had previously written: ‘Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?’
‘Mr Musk, it seems to me, should stick to batteries, cars and rockets – because he’s very good at it – and leave to the UK authorities the job of dealing with the protection of the safety and security of our communities,’ he told LBC’s Nick Ferrari.
As police officers and communities brace for more unrest today, it comes as:
Sir Thomas Winsor (pictured) said claims that protest in the UK are subject to ‘two-tier policing’ are unfounded
Elon Musk has used his X platform to criticise the government’s handling of policing amid the riot crisis
Riots have broken out across Britain since the Southport stabbings which claimed the lives of three young girls. Pictured is a police car which was torched in Sunderland last week
Asked whether he saw evidence of selective policing during his time as chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Thomas replied: ‘No.’
‘It doesn’t exist – policing is even handed,’ he continued.
‘If people are committing offences, and individual cases have to be dealt with on their individual merits, then they’ll be stopped and they may be charged and prosecuted.’
Downing Street has said it would not engage again with the Tesla CEO, having previously said his posts about a potential civil war in the UK had ‘no justification’. Musk has repeatedly targeted the Labour leader since then.
The violence was sparked by false claims about the identity of the teenager suspected of killing three young girls and injuring several others in a knife attack in Southport on July 29, and has seen shops looted and hotels housing asylum seekers attacked.
Sir Thomas said there is a ‘fundamental difference’ between ‘noisy’ pro-Palestine protests and ‘violent disorder that we see now’, adding that accusations of two-tier policing ‘increases a perception of unfairness which is not correct’.
More than 400 people have been arrested after disorder around England and Northern Ireland, according to police sources, with the number expected to rise in the coming days.
Sir Thomas also suggested there should be ‘criminal liability’ for senior managers at social media companies that tolerate ‘harmful material’ and incitement of crime on their websites.
Mr Musk used his X social media site, formerly known as Twitter, to reply to a post that blamed ‘mass migration and open borders’ for unrest in the UK
Musk joked that the UK Government could execute people for Facebook posts they don’t like, sharing a Family Guy meme
He also retweeted a meme showing armed police confronting a woman over her social media messages, adding: ‘Sounds like that is the UK today’
Musk shared this video from Birmingham of a pub being attacked by a gang with Palestinian flags and asked: ‘Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain? @Keir_Starmer’
The billionaire also shared a video of a man being arrested over Facebook posts and compared Britain to the Soviet Union
When asked how the online sector should be policed, he said: ‘It should be policed according to the law and vigorously.
‘I think the Online Safety Act is a big step forward but it doesn’t go far enough.’
He added his 2018 State of Policing report had suggested some social media companies were now ‘significant pieces of public infrastructure’ and ‘merely fining’ them was not sufficient.
‘I said there should be criminal liability for senior managers and that should be at the heart of a system of regulation,’ he continued.
Former home secretary and Tory leadership contender Dame Priti Patel told GB News on Tuesday night that Sir Keir Starmer should recall Parliament to respond to claims of two-tier policing, which the Government denies.
She said: ‘The fact that that perception exists undermines public trust and confidence in our police. That’s not a good place to be.’
Musk also hit out at the UK’s police as he responded to an offensive cartoon
Sir Keir said: ‘We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities.’ In response, Mr Musk wrote: ‘Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?’
Musk had earlier replied to a tweet by right-wing commentator Ashley St Clair, who said far-right rioting was down to ‘the effects of mass migration’, by suggesting ‘civil war is inevitable’
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has also rejected accusations of two-tier policing as ‘complete nonsense’ and criticised those voicing the claims for putting officers at risk.
Responding to claims that far-right riots have been dealt with more harshly than other recent unrest, he told broadcasters: ‘It’s complete nonsense.
‘We have commentators from either end of the political spectrum who like to throw accusations of bias at the police because we stand in the middle, we operate independently under the law without fear or favour.
‘And if you’ve got crazy views over there, you don’t like it, and if you’ve got crazy views over there, you don’t like it. We will continue to do that.
‘The serious voices who echo those are of more concern to me, because the risk is they legitimise it, and they legitimise the violence that the officers I’m sending on mutual aid today will face on the streets. They are putting them at risk by suggesting that any of those officers are going out with any intent other than to operate without fear or favour in protecting communities.’
Sir Mark declined to name individuals when asked about Musk’s intervention.
It comes as Sir Keir was also accused by a Tory leadership contender of not being ‘as clear as he could be’ that some of the disorder plaguing Britain’s streets emanated from ‘sectarian gangs’.
The Government has rejected claims that far-right riots over the last week have been dealt with more harshly than other recent unrest and protests.
Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, a former immigration minister, appeared to echo this on Wednesday.
‘We mustn’t be squeamish or selective in how we call out violence,’ he told Times Radio.
‘I think the Prime Minister has not been as clear as he could be about the fact that, whilst the majority, the overwhelming majority of the incidents that we’ve seen have emanated either from the far right or from a range of thugs and criminals who’ve chosen to take part in these events, there are nonetheless a much smaller number of sectarian gangs who have been causing disruption, violence and intimidation.’
Mr Jenrick, who is seeking to replace Rishi Sunak at the helm of the Conservative Party, pointed to Birmingham as an example.
A counter-protest staged in the city on Monday after social media rumours of a far-right march turned violent, with a car window smashed and attempts to slash a tyre on a Sky News vehicle.
West Midlands Police said the level of policing during ‘sporadic incidents’ of disorder had been commensurate with intelligence assessments made before hundreds of people gathered in the Bordesley Green area.
Communities minister Jim McMahon rejected accusations of two-tier policing, in particular in relation to the Birmingham incident.
Speaking of X owner Mr Musk’s intervention, he told Times Radio: ‘I certainly understand where the narrative comes from, because what he’s trying to do is to present a case that we treat different communities in a different way and somehow we give special treatment. That is not the case.’
Mr McMahon said his understanding of the Birmingham incident is that police made a tactical decision to ‘withdraw and regroup’ but that any potential criminal activity is expected to be followed up.
Operational decisions are for the police, he said, ‘but I also want to be clear that people should not believe that because their arrest wasn’t taking place on the day that that somehow means that justice will not catch up with people’.
He also told LBC that, while there was ‘a lot of provocation’ and ‘a lot of intimidation’ taking place, that did not justify violence and intimidation in response.
Senior Tory Mr Jenrick accused Home Office minister Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, of appearing to ‘explain away or justify intimidation against a female journalist (by) sectarian gangs on the streets of her own city in Birmingham’.
Sky News had reported that its communities correspondent, Becky Johnson, and crew were followed in their van by a knife-wielding man who attempted to slash a tyre.
Ms Phillips, the safeguarding minister, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them. This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content.’
Mr Jenrick said it was ‘wrong’ that neither Sir Keir nor Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had commented on the Birmingham situation.
The Newark MP has himself come under fire from Conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.
Commenting on a Tuesday social media video in which Mr Jenrick spoke of ‘sectarian gangs’ in some cases ‘attacking white Britons’, the former Conservative Party co-chairwoman said: ‘Use this awful moment to reflect on your language and conduct and what impact it’s had on where the country finds itself.’
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