Elon Musk has hit out at Keir Starmer claiming that “very few” businesses want to invest in Britain under his Labour government.
The tycoon and close ally of Donald Trump said that the “current administration” was responsible for repelling cash coming into the UK.
He was responding to a call from Scottish politicians asking Tesla, his car company, to open a gigafactory in the country.
“Very few companies will be willing to invest in the UK with the current administration,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. The attack risks a blow to Sir Keir, who has made attracting more businesses to Britain a key plank of his plan for economic growth.
Sir Keir has previously clashed with X owner Musk after the billionaire entrepreneur used the platform to claim “civil war” was “inevitable” in Britain.
Musk also hit out at the prime minister, calling him #twotierkeir, using the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory, which claims different types of protesters are treated differently by the police.
Nigel Farage met Mr Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion recently amid rumours the tech billionaire is preparing to donate up to $100m to Reform UK.
The money would be by far the largest donation in British electoral history.
According to The Sunday Times, leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials believe that Musk could hand over the cash as a “f*** you Starmer” payment as part of his feud with the prime minister.
The “first buddy” of Mr Trump even shared a post on X, claiming that Reform UK will win the next general election, captioning his repost with the word “yes”.
Asked by ITV about the reports of the massive donation, Musk denied he was planning to give $100m, but his response did not rule out another amount.
Asked if he was planning to give the upstart party £80m, Musk – who has been appointed by Mr Trump to lead a new government efficiency commission in the US – replied “no”.
Mr Farage has previously described Musk as “very supportive”.
“He thinks that if Reform do well in the UK, we can bring about the same kind of change that he intends to do with Donald Trump in America,” the party leader said.
