Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and prominent advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump, has called for the release of imprisoned far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Posting today on his social media platform X, the billionaire expressed support for the anti-Islam English Defence League’s founder while criticising Sir Keir Starmer. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in October to showing a defamatory video of a Syrian refugee during a protest. Judges previously heard he fled the UK last summer, hours after being bailed, following an alleged breach of a 2021 court order.
It was imposed after Robinson was successfully sued for libel by Jamal Hijazi, a schoolboy refugee, and prevented him from repeating the claims. Musk shared posts suggesting the 42-year-old had been “smeared as a ‘far-right racist’ for exposing the mass betrayal of English girls by the state,” a reference to the grooming gang scandal.
The Tesla owner asked, “Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth? He should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell.” Musk also criticised safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, claiming she “deserves to be in prison” after she rejected calls for a government-led inquiry into child abuse in Oldham. According to a report, Phillips stated in a letter to Oldham Council that local authorities should decide whether to commission an inquiry.
A similar approach was taken by the Telford and Wrekin Council, which commissioned an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in 2019. In another post, Musk accused Sir Keir Starmer of having “allowed” grooming gangs “to exploit young girls without facing justice” during his tenure as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013.
While acknowledging failures in handling such cases, Sir Starmer was responsible for appointing Nazir Afzal, who led the prosecutions of offenders in Rochdale, and introducing reforms to improve the justice system’s approach to child sexual abuse following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
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