Category Archives: keir starmer

Elon Musk Hits Back At Keir Starmer As War Of Words Over Riots Intensifies

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Elon Musk has hit back at Keir Starmer as the war of words between the pair intensified.

The prime minister slapped down the billionaire tech boss for claiming “civil war is inevitable” in the UK in the wake of the far-right riots which have taken place across the country in the past week.

The PM’s official spokesman said: “There’s no justification for comments like that and what we’ve seen in this country is organised illegal thuggery which has no place on our streets or online.

“We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain and in response to it we’ve seen some of the best of our communities coming out to clean up the mess and disruption.

“You can tell from that the prime minister doesn’t share those sentiments.”

But responding to a video posted on X by Starmer on Monday afternoon in which he said the government “will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities”, Musk replied: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?”

The clash came after the PM chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee on the riots.

Starmer said they agreed to set up a “standing army of duty officers” to swoop on any trouble that flares up.

Those arrested for taking part in the violence will be immediately named and shamed, the PM said, while they will also “feel the full force of the law” when they appear in court.

In a swipe at social media firms that spread misinformation and allow right-wing messages to be shared to millions of people, Starmer said: “The criminal law applied online as well as offline and I am assured that is the process that is being followed.”

Nearly 400 people have so far been arrested for taking part in the riots, with that number expected to rise in the days ahead.

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Keir Starmer Announces New National Violent Disorder Unit To Tackle Rioters

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Keir Starmer has just announced a new national violent disorder unit to address rioters after meeting with police chiefs this afternoon.

The group will look to increase intelligence gathering and sharing on potential unrest and “extremist troublemakers” from across the ideological spectrum.

The unit will be part of the national police operations centre, although the financial details of the group are yet to be firmed up.

The prime minister’s decision comes after a surprise wave of far-right protests sprung up this week in response to the Southport knife attack on Monday.

Starmer said the violent demonstrations were the “actions of a tiny mindless minority” and slammed “far-right hatred”.

“These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community, and we must have a police response that can do the same,” he said in a televised press conference.

He said the “violent disorder, clearly whipped up online” was crime, not protest.

He added that the government would take “all necessary action to keep our streets safe.”

Violent demonstrations in Southport, Hartlepool and London – just outside the gates to Downing Street – claimed to be motivated by the horrific stabbings in Merseyside earlier this week where three girls under the age of 10 died.

The 17-year-old suspect, now publicly named as Cardiff-born Axel Rudakubana, has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.

Before his identity was confirmed, social media misinformation had galvanised far-right protesters who chanted, “stop the boats” and threw missiles at the police during the riots.

The judge took the unusual decision of naming a suspect who is under 18 in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation “in a vacuum”.

Rudakubana is also set to turn 18 on Wednesday, August 7.

Starmer said his meeting with police chiefs was held to “pull together our response, response both to the immediate challenge which is clearly driven by far-right hatred, but also all violent disorder that flares up whatever the apparent cause or motivation”.

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‘Complete Control Freakery’: Backlash Against Starmer’s Suspension Of 7 Labour Rebels Rumbles On

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The backlash against Keir Starmer’s ruthless decision to suspend seven MPs for voting against the government has been completely slammed – even from within the Labour Party.

On Tuesday, a handful of MPs on the left of the party voted for an amendment calling for the two-child benefit cap – which prevents parents from getting help from the state for their third child – to be scrapped.

The government’s bid to keep the cap won by some margin, but the prime minister still chose to kick the rebels out of the parliamentary party for six months.

The move has attracted a huge amount of scrutiny from the new prime minister.

Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) which is the governing body of the party, claimed Starmer was showing “complete control freakery, authoritarianism”.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “Starmer thinks that he’s showing that he’s a strong leader but really it’s complete control freakery, authoritarianism, showing people what he’ll do if people disagree with him.

“I don’t think this benefits him, the party or anyone in the long run just because, I mean these are backbenchers, they’re not frontbenchers, these people are there literally to represent their constituencies and they have to go back and explain why they would have voted.”

Rahman then claimed: “There’s no reason why even if these seven people had voted against it, why they had to have the whip taken away from them.

“I mean, they literally voted to end child poverty in the way that they thought voting against this would.”

He said everyone in the Labour Party agrees the cap is “heinous, it’s cruel, it’s punishing” anyway.

Labour’s Nadia Whittome, who did vote with the government, criticised the suspension, too.

She said: “The government’s approach to party discipline has been appalling. No MP should have lost the whip for their vote this evening, especially on a policy that almost everyone in Labour opposes.”

Meanwhile, Zarah Sultana, who lost the whip over the vote last night, told the media this morning she was victim of a “macho virility test” but that she “slept well knowing that I told a stand against child poverty”.

Another one of the now ousted rebels, Aspana Begum, told Sky News: “I myself was quite shocked and surprised at the way I was treated.

“I had a very difficult election. Many people said to me, you know, we’re happy to support you as an individual but we’re finding it very hard to support Labour at the time, for a number of different reasons.”

She said some voters are “not seeing a difference between the two main parties in parliament”.

“It’s unacceptable, but that demonstrates the way in which that draconian stand was taken in regards to the scrapping of the two-child limit,” she said.

The backlash also extended to the House of Lords.

Labour peer, Prem Sikka, wrote on X: “Solidarity with the seven. With big majority Starmer silencing debate, just as Tories did. Sooner or later the cap will go.”

He also told the Lords it was “disappointing” the cap still had not been abolished, and there was “no shortage of money”.

He added on X: “Would the government find the money if a bank collapsed tomorrow? Poverty is a political choice.”

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Here is what I said about lifting 1.6m children out of poverty.

It is 100% affordable.

Minister didn’t respond.

Would govt find the money if a bank collapsed tomorrow?

Poverty is a political choice. pic.twitter.com/yE4Kyg3D6n

— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) July 23, 2024

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Here is what I said about lifting 1.6m children out of poverty.

It is 100% affordable.

Minister didn’t respond.

Would govt find the money if a bank collapsed tomorrow?

Poverty is a political choice. pic.twitter.com/yE4Kyg3D6n

— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) July 23, 2024

Meanwhile, independent MPs – Jeremy Corbyn, Shockat Adam, Iqbal Mohamed, Adnan Hussain and Ayoub Khan – took the chance to write to the rebel MPs on Wednesday, thanking them for voting against the government on the cap.

“It is beyond disgraceful that you have been punished for voting to alleviate child poverty,” the letter said.

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