Starmer scoffs at Musk, but suffers from UK market crash

Keir Starmer’s allies are looking for signs of hope at the end of a week dominated by Elon Musk’s interference in British politics and turmoil in global markets that jeopardized the British prime minister’s economic plans.

While much of Westminster was preoccupied with the spectacle of Mr Musk hurling insults at the Prime Minister, his ministers and his policies, Mr Starmer’s inner circle warned that the brutal collapse of the national debt posed a far greater threat, and that Chancellor of the Exchequer There was growing concern that the government could forcefully evict people. When the Office for Budget Responsibility updates its projections in March, Lee will launch unpopular spending cuts.

But amid the market turmoil, Labor’s advisers and MPs have stepped up efforts to ensure the prime minister is a reasonable leader in a time of uncertainty, in stark contrast to the alternatives being presented to British voters. I took solace in the week I spent thinking about it. They all requested anonymity to discuss internal government thinking.

Those around Mr Starmer believe the circus surrounding Mr Musk is indicative of how Britain’s political narrative can be framed until the next election. The billionaire Tesla boss has drawn attention across the continent with his daily online campaign against Europe’s centrist leaders, particularly the British Prime Minister. He took to his social media platform X to criticize him for not calling for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in British towns. A group that mainly abuses people of Pakistani descent.

But Mr Musk’s efforts to destabilize Starmer appear to have backfired over his support for jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, a move that last Sunday saw the tech tycoon This brought him into an unexpected clash with Nigel Farage, the reformist British leader who enjoyed the support of his supporters.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Conservative Party backed Musk’s call for an inquiry, with leader Kemi Badenoch focusing six questions on the subject rather than markets during the Prime Minister’s weekly Q&A on Wednesday. Mr Starmer stressed the importance of the Conservatives acting on the recommendations of previous inquiries, which they failed to implement during his time in government.

Farage’s machinations and the Tories’ actions gave Starmer a reprieve and left Labor’s strategists feeling they were in a much better position politically. The prime minister’s allies are what Brits see as solid, sensible, pragmatic politicians and an opportunistic conservative opposition party that is shadowing the turbulent far-right wing represented by Musk, Farage and the next US president. He said he would argue that there is a choice between the two. Donald Trump.

For businesses, investors and middle-class voters who value jobs, stability and security, Starmer is the key to stopping the UK from moving in a more dangerous direction, even if they don’t support all of his decisions. The prime minister said another official was close.

Mr Starmer’s aides feel they were right in ignoring the noise of day-to-day politics and focusing on policy, ignoring Mr Musk until Mr Musk praised Mr Robinson and parted ways with Mr Farage. He argues that it was the right thing to do. Some said it was time to hit back, as Mr Starmer said on Monday that Mr Musk’s vitriol against one of his ministers meant he had “crossed the line” by putting them at risk. Ta.

John McTernan, a former advisor to Tony Blair and strategist at BCW Global, said: “We’ve seen Mr Keir at his best this week, displaying very British calm and measured anger.” “This debate was won through strategic patience. Sometimes you have to wait for your opponent to make a mistake, and that’s exactly what Musk did by endorsing Tommy Robinson.”

Mr Starmer’s public statements were characteristically modest, but behind the scenes Labor officials were furious at the Conservative Party for forcing a parliamentary vote calling for a new inquiry into the grooming gang scandal. Labor officials said it was a shameless political stunt for the Conservatives not to carry out such an inquiry while in office. Another said Mr Starmer would take a tougher stance on voters than the opposition on typical Conservative areas, from child abuse to immigration.

Nevertheless, Mr Starmer’s order to Labor MPs to oppose the Conservative Party’s call for an inquiry left some people uncomfortable. Some believed the party leader had the facts on his side and that most voters would not agree with Mr Musk’s more extreme words, but that didn’t stop the right from cornering the Labor Party on the demands of sexual abuse victims. He said it was worrisome that people were voting against the bill.

That’s the reality of trying to govern in a political conflict that Starmer is famously averse to, one of his allies said. While the media followed Mr Musk’s every tweet, the Prime Minister held meetings demanding decisions on reporting on serious issues ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine to the winter crisis hitting the National Health Service, as well as major strains of bird flu. It is said that he was reading papers.

Nothing worries Mr. Starmer and Mr. Reeves more than the prospect of markets derailing their economic plans as this week’s bond moves raise borrowing costs and eat up what little budgetary space there is.

Aides remain optimistic that the OBR’s report is still weeks away, and any further movement in the right direction will mean the chancellor will need to regain some leeway and impose austerity-type measures. There is a possibility that it will disappear. They also suggest that interest rate cuts by the Bank of England should provide some respite to the stagnant economy. Reeves is visiting China this weekend to seek stronger economic ties and is expected to speak in the coming weeks and announce new measures aimed at boosting domestic growth.

Still, these aides acknowledge that the government’s room for maneuver is limited amid the global rout. Some said deep spending cuts were politically unpalatable and further tax increases would be a nightmare prospect, and that keeping the economy and public finances safe was what kept Starmer and Reeves up at night, not Musk. He added that he is doing so.

This article was generated from the Automata news agency feed without any modifications to the text.