Sir Ed Davey has branded Elon Musk a "criminal" and called for Parliament to haul in the tech billionaire over his controversial comments at a far-right rally in London. The Liberal Democrat leader is demanding an Ofcom investigation into both Musk personally and his social media platform X for alleged failures under the Online Safety Act.
Asked directly by Sky News whether he considered the US businessman a criminal, Davey replied: "Yes." He accused Musk of "inciting violence" and claiming "a civil war in our country is inevitable" and "that our democratically elected Government should be overthrown."
Platform content concerns
Davey's criminal accusation extends beyond Musk's political statements to content on X itself. "But on his platform, there are examples of adverts pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing paedophile acts, child sex abuse acts. I think he should be held to account for them. Him personally and his business," the Lib Dem leader said.
The party plans to table a parliamentary motion as soon as MPs return, aiming to summon Musk to appear before Parliament to answer for his actions. The rarely-used parliamentary power would require Musk to appear at the threshold of the House of Commons to be publicly admonished - a procedure last used on a non-MP in 1957.
Rally controversy sparks feud
The row stems from Musk's video message to the Unite The Kingdom rally in central London, led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The tech boss told demonstrators: "Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die."
Downing Street condemned Musk's comments, while Davey accused him of inciting violence. Musk hit back by branding the Lib Dem leader a "craven coward", prompting Davey to respond with a SpongeBob SquarePants meme mocking the billionaire.
Conference tensions emerge
Davey faced criticism at the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth after activists were prevented from debating a ban on trans women holding women's roles in the party. When told by the BBC that activists felt "shut down and cross", Davey replied: "Well, I'm sorry if they're cross, but I do think the truth is what I'm saying, that we abide by the law."
The party leader said they had held a "full debate on LGBT-plus rights, including trans issues" at an earlier conference this year.
Conference speech preview
In his headline conference address on Tuesday, Davey will say Britain "must stand up to Elon Musk, and properly enforce our laws so he can't get away with inflicting harm on our kids." He will argue that Musk is "keen to meddle in our democracy" because of "his ego, power and wealth" and claim the Tesla owner "doesn't really believe in free speech" but only "free speech for people who agree with him."
The Liberal Democrats are urging the Government and other opposition parties to support their parliamentary motion against Musk.
Sources used: "Sky News", "BBC", "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
