Elon Musk has branded Sir Keir Starmer a “hypocrite” over his approach to policing – while also goading the prime minister over a Labour MP’s historical tweets.
Musk has been sparring with Sir Keir since last week after the prime minister blamed social media companies for allowing the spread of false claims that the Southport stabbings suspect was an asylum seeker – which prompted riots across the UK.
The billionaire tycoon, who has proclaimed free speech as a key goal of his takeover of Twitter, which he renamed X, has also expressed his disbelief that people who incite violence online are being prosecuted in the UK.
On Friday, Musk called Sir Keir a “hypocrite”. He did this in response to the prime minister criticising Musk for alleging police in Birmingham had used “two-tier policing” – a phrase being used to describe the impression that some protests and demonstrations are dealt with more harshly than others.
Musk highlighted that Sir Keir criticised the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil protests. The Metropolitan Police later paid compensation following arrests at the protests.
The X owner said: “Out of curiosity, is this the same #TwoTeirKeir who himself criticized policing protests in 2021?
“What a hypocrite!”
Musk also said Sir Keir was “terrified of having to perform equal enforcement of the law for all in his own city” – and called for someone to tell the prime minister that Musk thought he was “craven”.
Previously, Musk had highlighted another story which was critical of the Labour Party.
Newly elected Labour MP Lauren Edwards apologised on Thursday after a series of offensive tweets from more than a decade ago resurfaced.
She said she had made a “significant error of judgement” which she “deeply regrets”, but did not directly cite the posts she meant.
Unverified screenshots of the since-deleted tweets were circulating online.
On Friday, Musk reposted a screenshot from another X user of one of the deleted tweets, along with Ms Edwards’s apology.
It reads: “I want these f***ing Estonian r*****s out of my flat now!”
He did not make a comment on the screenshots. With 193.4 million followers, the post was quickly seen by millions, and reposted and commented on by thousands.
Musk’s post has prompted criticism of Ms Edwards from around the world, with many saying she should be suspended and others saying she should be arrested.
One user said: “Top trolling.”
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Ms Edwards appeared to have deleted her X account on Friday, after posting her apology the day before.
Between 2008 and 2013, Australian-born Ms Edwards worked as a parliamentary researcher for Labour MPs including Barbara Keeley, Teresa Pearce, and Lisa Nandy.
On Thursday, Ms Edwards said: “I have recently been made aware of a small number of tweets that I posted on Twitter from over a decade ago, which I now deeply regret.
“They were a significant error of judgement on my part, and I apologise wholeheartedly.
“Since becoming a local councillor and more recently an MP, I have seen first-hand the importance of bringing communities together and working with tolerance and respect for all in our society.
“I pledge to use my platform to continue that important work and dedicate myself to serving all residents of Rochester and Strood.”
Ms Edwards was elected as an MP at the general election in July with 15,403 votes.
She unseated Tory MP Kelly Tolhurst, who had represented the Kent constituency since 2015.