UK Politics (27 Viewers)

JuveJay

JuveJay

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icemaη

icemaη

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Elon Musk in talks over Reform UK donation, says Nigel Farage
The Reform UK leader tells the BBC his party is "in negotiations" over a donation with the US tycoon.
By BBC News
Dec 17, 2024 09:43 PM
2 min. read
View original
Reform UK is in "open negotiations" with US billionaire Elon Musk about him donating to the party, Nigel Farage has told the BBC.
The Reform UK leader said the pair "did talk about money" during a meeting on Monday at Donald Trump's Florida retreat.
He added that the tech tycoon, who is a prominent supporter and major donor to Trump's re-election campaign, was "fully, fully behind us".
"He wants to help us, he's not opposed to the idea of giving us money, provided we can do it legally through UK companies," he added.
It is the first time Mr Farage has said his party is in talks about a potential donation from Mr Musk, the world's richest person and the boss of X, Tesla and SpaceX.
Earlier this month, Farage said that although Mr Musk was a political supporter, he had not asked for a donation and "one has never been offered".
Mr Musk has not commented on the possibility of a donation to Reform UK, which won four million votes and five seats July's general election.
As a US citizen, he cannot make personal political donations in the UK.
But there have been reports suggesting a donation could be made through the British branch of X.
Speaking to BBC political editor Chris Mason, Farage said they "didn't discuss specific numbers" when it came to a potential donation, adding the party was "in negotiations" over the matter.
But he added that speculation the billionaire could make a donation as large as $100m (£78m) was "for the birds".
Farage has previously said the UK's election watchdog "would take a view that a donation that came from a company would have to be proportional to the size of the company in this country".
Mar-a-lago meeting
It comes after Reform UK said Farage, along with new party treasurer Nick Candy, met Mr Musk at Mar-a-Lago for an hour on Monday and had "learned a great deal from Musk about the Trump ground game".
Farage posted a picture of himself on X alongside Mr Musk and Mr Candy, who was announced as party treasurer last week, standing in front of a painting of Trump that hangs inside the Mar-A-Lago complex.
He added "Britain needs Reform", to which Mr Musk replied: "Absolutely".
Reform UK thanked the US president-elect for allowing them to use the building for the meeting, adding it showed the "special relationship" between the UK and US was "alive and well".
Mr Musk has become a prominent critic of Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and has backed Reform UK to form the next government in posts on his social media platform X.
Mr Musk, who was born in South Africa, donated $75m to US President-elect Donald Trump's re-election bid, with $72m of that going to a political action committee he set up called America PAC.
Mr Musk's father Errol has suggested the SpaceX and Tesla mogul might even be prepared to become a UK citizen to make a $100m donation to Reform UK.
Earlier this month, he told GB News: "I'm eligible for British citizenship, so is he, I suppose."
The government has committed to reviewing the rules on political donations in the UK, with Sir Keir's spokesman telling reporters on Tuesday there would be a "relevant update in due course".
Asked about the influence Musk could potentially wield in British politics, Farage told the BBC: "UK trading companies are allowed to give to British politics, and I don't think that's going to change any time soon."
He added that the possibility of the Labour government changing donation rules "shows you how worried they are" about Reform UK.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1kez8d2dygo

:sergio:
 
JuveJay

JuveJay

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Nomuken said:
Uk is wild right now, coppers over there really locking up people over memes and posts?

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Well yes, Britain is not America and doesn't have First Amendment laws. But Americans can also be punished for what may incite criminal behaviour against certain persons from it. So it sounds an awful lot like what happened here. I think it's a contentious thing for America to deal with over time, actually. I read that the US Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected criminalising hate speech.

"Burn all the brownies alive in their asylum hotels" - just a little difference of opinion, me old mucker lol.

Personally I don't think people should be able to say whatever they want online with no consequences, especially when they are leading to people being seriously hurt, potentially killed, property destroyed, etc.

This isn't an argument for 'likeminded people'. Unfortunately, good sir, I think if you had the misfortune to have been out and about in some of those places in the days following the Southport incident then you would have looked different enough to have been attacked for no reason by what are mostly EDL retards and sympathisers and those people who you always find around riots who seem to think that there is no longer rule of law and they can do whatever they want. I think this also applies to what's posted online. I've never really understood it as you're going to get caught eventually.

The CPS are obviously making an example with some of these prison sentences for things you'd usually get community service for, but they are creating a deterrent. The problem is that our sentencing is usually light as our prisons are overcrowded, so this stands out in comparison to your everyday crimes, even serious crimes. That's what annoys me, not that some prat online really thought they wouldn't get into trouble encouraging people to burn down asylum hotels, or posting racist or inflammatory memes during a sensitive national flashpoint. People get carried away online, feel protected behind their screens and do dumb shit.
 
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