Topline<\/p>\n
Elon Musk on Saturday called for Britain\u2019s King Charles to dissolve parliament and order a new general election over complaints about the British government\u2019s handling of \u201cgrooming gangs\u201d a decade ago, marking the Tesla CEO\u2019s latest venture into global politics as British officials say Musk has shared \u201cfactually inaccurate\u201d claims on social media.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s richest man is \u201cmisjudged and certainly misinformed\u201d about the British government\u2019s … More handling of \u201cgrooming gangs,\u201d officials say.<\/p>\n
Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Musk shared<\/a> a post on X saying he has called on King Charles to dissolve parliament, writing, \u201cIt is my earnest hope that [King Charles] considers this matter in the interests of his subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n In other posts, Musk accused<\/a> Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to properly prosecute gangs that sexually exploited children while Starmer served as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, claiming Starmer was \u201ccomplicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN\u201d and should face charges \u201cin the worst mass crime in the history of Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk also called on Jess Phillips, a minister for safeguarding, to resign and said she \u201cdeserves to be in prison\u201d after Phillips rejected<\/a> a request for a government-led inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, England.<\/p>\n Phillips said Oldham officials should commission a local inquiry, however, and a similar request was denied by the U.K.\u2019s conservative government in 2022, according to the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: <\/strong>We\u2019re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day\u2019s headlines. Text \u201cAlerts\u201d to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chief Critic<\/p>\n Alicia Kearns, a parliament member from the Conservative Party, accused<\/a> Musk of \u201cdrawing attention away from the survivors and from the victims\u201d and said Musk has \u201cfallen prone\u201d to sharing posts on X \u201cwithout critically assessing them.\u201d The Conservative Party has reportedly<\/a> criticized Musk for \u201csharing things that are factually inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n Can King Charles Dissolve Parliament?<\/p>\n King Charles could dissolve<\/a> parliament, though the monarch historically acts at the request of the prime minister, who would only request a dissolution to carry out a general election. Parliament is dissolved 25 days before every general election and on the fifth anniversary of the acting parliament, and was most recently dissolved in May 2024 before the U.K.\u2019s most recent election on July 4, 2024. King Charles could refuse<\/a> to dissolve parliament if the body remains \u201cvital, viable and capable of doing its job,\u201d if an election would be detrimental to the national economy, or if King Charles could find another prime minister who could \u201cgovern for a reasonable period with a working majority\u201d in parliament\u2019s House of Commons. <\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n The U.K.\u2019s left-wing Labour Party, which controls the British government, has come under fire from right-wing figures\u2014including Musk\u2014who say they have failed to assist local officials with investigating alleged instances<\/a> of child sexual abuse. Musk has increasingly inserted himself into British politics, including meeting Nigel Farage, leader of the U.K.\u2019s far-right Reform UK Party, who said<\/a> Musk was giving \u201cserious thought\u201d to helping fund the party. Musk has written several posts on X in support of British far-right Tommy Robinson<\/a>, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October after being found guilty of contempt for repeatedly violating court orders finding him liable for making libelous claims about a Syrian refugee. Robinson\u2019s X account was reinstated by Musk, who has falsely claimed<\/a> Robinson was imprisoned for speaking out against instances of child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n Tangent<\/p>\n Musk has spoken about political affairs in other countries, including Germany, where Musk has supported<\/a> the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party. In an opinion piece, Musk disputed criticisms of the AfD party as \u201cright-wing extremist\u201d by saying the party\u2019s leader Alice Weidel is gay, saying, \u201cDoes that sound like Hitler to you? Please!\u201d Musk also accused Germany\u2019s traditional political parties of becoming \u201ccomfortable with mediocrity,\u201d suggesting AfD would \u201csave Germany from becoming a shadow of its former self.\u201d Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also touted her friendship with Musk, who has supported<\/a> anti-immigration policies in the country.<\/p>\n Further ReadingForbesWho Is Tommy Robinson? Why Elon Musk Is Posting About Far-Right British ActivistBy Alison Durkee<\/a>ForbesElon Musk Supports Germany\u2019s Far-Right AfD Party In Opinion PieceBy Sara Dorn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline Elon Musk on Saturday called for Britain\u2019s King Charles to dissolve parliament and order a new general…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7730,7731,295,807,1760,7710,519,59423],"class_list":{"0":"post-290307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-charles","10":"tag-charles-iii","11":"tag-elon-musk","12":"tag-keir-starmer","13":"tag-king-charles","14":"tag-royal-families","15":"tag-royal-family","16":"tag-tommy-robinson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114913337910857701","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}