Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat slams ‘delusional’ Elon Musk over claim UK civil war is inevitable

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A Tory leadership contender has slammed as “delusional” Elon Musk’s claim that civil war in the UK is inevitable.

Tom Tugendhat hit out at the X owner, saying his widely-criticised comment, as riots broke out across the country, was "simply false".

In a speech designed to show how he would respond to the recent violence, Mr Tugendhat also attacked Nigel Farage, saying he would not let the former Ukip leader into the Conservatives and ruling out a deal with his Reform Party.

And he suggested Keir Starmer could have brought the appalling scenes on the nation’s streets under control more swiftly – and said the prime minister should have sacked home office minister Jess Phillips, who he accused of justifying the actions of some rioters.

Sir Keir has faced calls to order an inquiry into the role of social media after it was accused of “fuelling” the disorder.

Downing Street openly clashed with Mr Musk over his civil war comments, while courts minister Heidi Alexander denounced them as “deplorable”.

Asked about the remarks, Mr Tugendhat said: "Frankly I found those comments delusional and simply false.”

But he stopped short of saying politicians should quit Twitter, after a number of Labour MPs left the platform, suggesting it was an individual decision.

He also accused Mr Farage of “deeply irresponsible and dangerous" behaviour over the riots.

Mr Farage has come under fire for his claims of “two-tier policing”, echoing the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory.

He also reached out to Mr Musk, alleging a conspiracy between the government and media to support “open borders”.

And he doubled down on his much-criticised claims about the Southport stabbings, and claimed “the truth was being withheld” about the suspect, saying his question about whether he was on a watchlist had not been answered.

False claims that the alleged attacker of three young girls in the town was on a watchlist and a Muslim were used to stir up far-right mobs.

During his speech, Mr Tugendhat, a former security minister, also said the Labour leader should have fired Ms Phillips.

He told an invited audience in London: "When masked men gathered in Birmingham brandishing weapons and live on camera threatened female journalists and attempted to slash the tyres of broadcast vans, Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, chose to justify their behaviour instead of condemning it because these were not far right hooligans but young Muslim men.

"This was a failure of leadership just as surely as that of Nigel Farage, and it is not the only failure of leadership by Keir Starmer’s Government over these last two weeks." He added that the PM “should have sacked her”.

Ms Phillips suggested that the rumours of the far-right gathering had been deliberately spread in a bid to cause trouble.

“To be clear, all day rumours have been spread that a far-right group were coming and it was done entirely to get Muslim people out on the street to drive this content”, she tweeted,“It is misinformation being spread to create trouble.”

Comparing Sir Keir’s response to that of former prime minister David Cameron during the 2011 riots, he said: "David Cameron immediately called Cobra, did so every day, and made sure the police had the resources... Those riots stopped within a week.

"These riots went on longer and they were less serious. He could have gripped it.

"He chose not to use the institutions of the state and still to run as if he was in opposition. That’s not how Government works."

Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson said: “Once again we see the Tories try to gaslight and shift the blame from their failures and broken promises over mass immigration. It is no wonder that polling out today shows a third of Conservative supporters do not care who their next leader is.”