London (AFP) – Tech billionaire Elon Musk is in talks with UK anti-immigration firebrand Nigel Farage about donating to his hard-right party, the British lawmaker has said. Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, Farage stated that “the issue of money was discussed” when he met the X owner at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday. “There will be ongoing negotiations on that score,” the arch-Eurosceptic wrote, in comments that will likely unnerve the ruling Labour party and main Conservative opposition. Musk “described the Labour and Conservative parties as the uniparty, and left us in no doubt that he is right behind us,” Farage added.
Farage’s upstart Reform UK party won five seats in the 650-seat UK parliament in July’s general election, although it received roughly 14 percent of total votes cast. Reform took support from both Labour and the Tories, and the Brexit cheerleader has said it can win the next election in 2029 — although Britain’s voting system favours the two main parties. Newspaper reports have suggested that Musk is preparing to donate up to $100 million to Reform, but Farage told the BBC on Tuesday that the pair did not discuss numbers. “He wants to help us, he’s not opposed to the idea of giving us money provided we can do it legally through UK companies,” he told the broadcaster.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk and Farage — the MP for Clacton, east of London — are both ardent supporters of Trump. Musk spent at least $270 million to help the Republican win the US presidency, according to recent federal filings, making him the country’s biggest political donor. Trump has picked the South African-born tycoon to co-lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency when he returns to the White House on January 20. His role is likely to complicate relations between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump since Musk has been a vocal critic of the Labour government.
He has branded Britain a “tyrannical police state” and drew criticism from Downing Street during far-right riots this summer when Musk said “civil war is inevitable” in the country. Foreign donations to UK political parties are technically banned, but there are loopholes in which donors abroad can give money through British entities. The government has said it is “committed to strengthening the rules.” Farage has previously criticised American political figures for wading into UK politics. In 2016, he said then-president Barack Obama had “behaved disgracefully” by suggesting the UK would be “at the back of the queue” for a US trade deal if it voted for Brexit.
© 2024 AFP
