Elon Musk calls for ‘dissolution of UK parliament’ as he addresses far-right rally in London

While virtually addressing a far-right rally in London, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called for a “dissolution of parliament” and a “change of government” in the United Kingdom. The rally was organised by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, which also witnessed violent clashes with the police.

Musk addressed the protesters via video link and railed against the “woke mind virus” and told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”. “I really think that there’s got to be a change of government in Britain. You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long,” he said.

“Something’s got to be done. There’s got to be a dissolution of parliament and a new vote held.” It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time the billionaire has been involved in British politics. Earlier this year, he started a war of words with the British government over grooming gangs and also criticised the 2023 Online Safety Act, calling the legislation a threat to free speech.

Musk is known to have a strong relationship with far-right British leader Nigel Farage. There have also been reports that the billionaire could channel a donation to Farage’s party, Reform UK. However, things changed when the Tesla CEO called for the Reform UK leader to be replaced during a dispute over his support for Robinson.

What Musk said at the event

In the Saturday rally, Musk requested the country’s “reasonable centre” to fight back. “My appeal is to British common sense, which is to look carefully around you and say: ‘If this continues, what world will you be living in?’ This is a message to the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics, who just want to live their lives. They don’t want that; they’re quiet, they just go about their business,” Musk said in his virtual address.

“My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here. Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.”

The SpaceX CEO went on to tell the crowd, “the left are the party of murder”, referring to the death of American rightwing activist Charlie Kirk. “There’s so much violence on the left, with our friend Charlie Kirk getting murdered in cold blood this week, and people on the left celebrating it openly. The left is the party of murder and celebrating murder. I mean, let that sink in for a minute, that’s who we’re dealing with here,” he said.

The billionaire went on to slam what he called the “woke mind virus” and insisted that decisions for advancement should be on merit rather than “discrimination based on sex, or religion or any race or anything else”.

“A lot of the woke stuff is actually super-racist, it’s super-sexist, and often it’s anti-religion, but only anti-Christian, like why anti-Christian? That’s unfair … that should be all that matters, the woke mind virus, that I call it, is against all that,” he said.

Over 110,000 people were estimated to have taken part in the far-right street rally, in what is thought to be one of the largest nationalist events in decades. According to The Guardian, the marches also faced about 5,000 anti-racist counter-protesters. Apart from Musk, Katie Hopkins and French far-right politician Éric Zemmour were also invited to address the protesters.