London, August 06, 2024, The Europe Today: A heated online exchange has erupted between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Tesla CEO Elon Musk concerning recent anti-immigration riots in the UK.
The disturbances, which have affected more than a dozen cities and towns, were triggered by a deadly knife attack in Southport, England. Musk commented on a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) that depicted the street clashes, claiming that a “civil war was inevitable.” The video suggested that the unrest was a result of mass immigration and open-border policies in the UK.
Downing Street quickly responded to Musk’s remarks. “There is no justification for comments like that,” a spokesperson for Starmer stated, labeling the riots as “organized, illegal thuggery which has no place on our streets or online.”
Prime Minister Starmer condemned the actions of the rioters and pledged to deploy a “standing army of public duty officers” in response to the violence. In a statement released on X, he emphasized, “The criminal law applies online as well as offline, and I’m assured that is the approach that is being taken. Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest. It is pure violence, and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities.”
The riots have seen mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers targeted. Musk responded by questioning, “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?” This comment referenced violent counterprotests in the UK, where police in Bolton clashed with 300 “mostly Asian” demonstrators after a confrontation between two rival groups.
One particularly violent incident involved customers of a Birmingham pub, ‘The Clumsy Swan,’ being attacked by a group of Muslim youths who broke away from the main demonstration, according to the BBC.
The UK’s top police official, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, faced scrutiny over allegations of double standards in handling the riots. When asked about “two-tier policing” during a Sky News interview, Rowley abruptly ended the discussion by removing the reporter’s microphone and walking away, declining to take further questions.
The riots were initially sparked by a mass stabbing at a dance studio in Merseyside on July 29, which resulted in the deaths of three children and injuries to 10 others. Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a 17-year-old British boy born to Rwandan parents, has been charged with the stabbings. Despite widespread rumors that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant, police have stated that he appears to have no links to Islam.
A Liverpool judge ruled on Thursday that the name of the suspect, whose identity was initially concealed due to laws protecting minors, must be released to the public as he turned 18 that week.
