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.
WHAT THOMAS SAID
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?’
THOMAS SAID MORE
‘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.
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.
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WHAT STARTED THE PROTEST?
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.
