Keir Starmer admitted he had a ‘smile’ after Nigel Farage gushed about how ‘cool’ it was to have the tech billionaire’s support – only for Elon Musk later turn on him
Starmer takes aim at Farage after Elon Musk ‘turns on him’
Nigel Farage was humiliated by Keir Starmer during PMQs after he mocked him for fawning over Elon Musk – just hours before the tech mogul turned on him.
In a moment that drew laughter from MPs across the Commons, the Prime Minister admitted he had a “smile” on Sunday after Mr Farage gushed about how “cool” it was to have the billionaire’s support – only for Mr Musk later to say Mr Farage should be replaced as Reform UK leader. Mr Farage, the MP for Clacton, himself laughed at the jibe, raising his hands in a shrug as he sat on the green benches opposite in the chamber.
Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, was first to raise Mr Musk’s betrayal with a question to the PM about foreign donations to UK political parties. He asked Mr Starmer: “While the honourable member for Clacton may miss out on his big allowance from Elon Musk, the spectre of the richest man in the world trying to buy a British political party, should give us all cause for thought.
“And after years of the Conservatives taking millions of pounds of Russian money, will the Prime Minister now work with us to bring in long overdue reforms of party funding so that power in this country lies with the voters and not wealthy overseas oligarchs?”
Mr Starmer responded: “I think we all had a smile on Sunday when the honourable member said how ‘cool’ it was to have the support of Musk, only for Musk to say he should be removed just a few hours later – that’s the rough and tough of politics and of course, we’re looking at the question of funding more generally.”
It came after Mr Farage branded Mr Musk a “hero” in interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. The Reform UK boss said: “He may well give us money. Whether he does or not, I think what he gives us with huge numbers of young people, he makes us look cool.”
But hours later the Tesla and Twitter /X boss – a key advisor to Donald Trump – said online: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.” The pair appear to have fallen out over Mr Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson. Following his intervention Mr Farage replied: “Well, this is a surprise! Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree. My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”
In December Mr Farage held an hour-long meeting with Mr Musk amid speculation he could donate to Reform UK. The pair met at Donald Trump ’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida alongside former Tory donor and property developer Nick Candy. The week after Mr Candy, Reform UK’s treasurer, said Mr Musk was among a “number of billionaires” considering a donation to the party.
Labour’s election manifesto committed to strengthening the rules around donations to political parties. But Commons Leader Lucy Powell admitted last month there were no immediate plans to tighten rules on foreign donations.
