Elon Musk tonight aimed more ridicule at the British state after it emerged Home Office security officials are ‘monitoring’ his social media posts.
Officials are looking at the output of the world’s richest man on X, the platform he owns, to assess whether his posts could pose a security risk.
The decision is understood to have been prompted by his recent criticism of safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, which she subsequently said was ‘endangering’ her.
And the South African-born Tesla co-founder’s breathless recent commentary on the grooming gangs scandal showed no sign of abating.
Today, Mr Musk wrote with typical brevity and a lack of further explanation: ‘The fox is guarding the henhouse.’
He was responding to an unsubstantiated claim that Matt Jukes, Britain’s head of counter-terror policing and borough commander in Rotherham at the height of the grooming scandal there, was investigating his tweets.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed Mr Jukes is not monitoring Musk’s tweets.
A source said the Home Office Homeland Security Group, which ‘focuses on the highest harm risks to the homeland’, is reportedly involved.
Elon Musk last night aimed more ridicule at the British state after it emerged Home Office security officials are ‘monitoring’ his social media posts
The decision is understood to have been prompted by his recent criticism of safeguarding minister Jess Phillips (pictured), which she subsequently said was ‘endangering’ her
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘I would firmly steer you away from reports suggesting that his comments are being investigated by a counter-extremism unit.’
A Home Office spokesman added: ‘While we can’t comment on operational matters, we routinely use open-source monitoring to be informed of what is being shared online.’
Mr Musk today retweeted condemnation of the ‘pathetic’ Home Office by Rupert Lowe, the recently elected Reform MP who Mr Musk has tipped to replace Nigel Farage as leader of the nascent organisation.
Mr Lowe wrote: ‘I have asked the Home Office how many of Musk’s posts have been investigated, for what reason, by how many officers and at what cost to the taxpayer?
‘They will spy on Musk’s online activity, but no inquiry into thousands of foreign rapists. Pathetic.’
The Government has repeatedly rejected demands for a new national inquiry specifically into grooming gang, including a request from Oldham Council for a Whitehall-led probe into child sexual abuse in the north west town.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘I would firmly steer you away from reports suggesting that his comments are being investigated by a counter-extremism unit.’
The subject was touched upon by the wider Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, whose findings were published after years of hearings in October 2022, but were overshadowed when Liz Truss announced her resignation as Prime Minister the same day.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey today condemned Mr Musk for his recent commentary on British life, saying: ‘When the richest man in the world owns a platform that he distorts to promote his views and prevents other people speaking, he isn’t a champion of free speech, he is an opponent of free speech.’