The U.K.’s 10 Downing Street has hit back at Elon Musk’s comments over violent unrest in Northern England and pushed back on his statement that “civil war is inevitable”.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson responded to the comment Monday, saying that there was “no justification” for those remarks.
The U.K. has been rocked by violence after the killing of three children in a stabbing incident at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class in Southport last week.
“What we’ve seen in this country is organized violent thuggery that has no place either on our streets, or online,” the spokesperson added in a statement to The Hill, echoing the prime minister’s Sunday statement to the nation.
“We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain,” the spokesperson added.
Starmer convened an emergency response meeting Monday after violence across multiple cities that he blamed on far-right activists and misinformation on social media.
Musk however critcized Starmer Monday over his statement on ensuring the safety of Muslim communities and mosques in the U.K.
The X CEO replied to Starmer’s tweet asking, “shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
U.K. Home Minister Yvette Cooper told Parliament last week that false information had already spread online about the attacker’s identity and warned “those who do this for their own purposes risk undermining a crucial criminal investigation.”
She added that misinformation on social media fanned the flames further after false rumors were amplified that the suspect was a Muslim and an asylum-seeker.