Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Co-Chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill on December 05, 2024 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images Elon Musk has questioned whether the United States should “liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government” after hitting out at top U.K. lawmakers. … Read more
The tensions around the scandal contributed to race riots that took place in August, during which Musk also clashed with the United Kingdom’s government. Against this backdrop, Musk’s strident criticism of centrist and center-left politicians like Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, is not unexpected — the Tesla entrepreneur’s politics … Read more
Sir Keir Starmer has apparently continued his quest to be the most unpopular man in Britain by breaking one of the nation’s most sacred cultural practices: queuing. While on holiday in Madeira, Portugal, the prime minister and his family wanted to have a ride on the popular Monte Sledges, toboggans locally made from wicker and … Read more
Flattery from Macron Musk hasn’t yet thrown his endorsement behind Marine Le Pen and the French far right. But President Macron — who, like Scholz in Germany, is politically fragile and facing domestic turbulence — is desperate to get him onside. He has been urging the tech entrepreneur, alongside Trump, to attend a major artificial … Read more
Britain’s new government spent most of the fall bogged down in questions over where it stands on EU demands for a youth mobility scheme — which Brussels sees as essential to the reset. The young Labour administration is worried the idea smells too much like EU migration, a difficult political issue in Britain. It hasn’t … Read more
Keir Starmer starts 2025 with his back to the wall — but he’s vowing to “fight for change” in the year ahead. In his message to Brits as the new year kicks off, the U.K. prime minister — elected in a landslide in the summer but currently tanking in the polls — talked up progress … Read more
As the dust settles on another wild one, let POLITICO help you reminisce by rattling through, in no particular order, the 37 words on every extremely-online political type’s lips this year. TWO-TIER JUSTICE: A big talking point of comeback kid Nigel Farage and his fans. They argued that the British justice system treated white and … Read more
LONDON — Nigel Farage has challenged the main U.K. opposition Conservative Party to carry out an audit of its membership figures after claiming his upstart Reform UK had eclipsed it. The Brexiteer used the festive period to declare Reform the “real opposition,” unveil a flashy “ticker” to count up new recruits and claim his party … Read more
LONDON — There wasn’t a great deal of time for reading in Westminster this year. Labour’s election supermajority, dramas over freebies and staff, war everywhere, a tax-hiking budget, and a heap of missions, milestones, foundations, pillars and steps kept Britain’s politicians on their toes. But, thankfully, some of Westminster’s finest still managed to steal a … Read more
“It is an odd choice if you’re trying to build bridges with the Trump administration,” said Dalibor Rohac of the American Enterprise Institute. And Mandelson’s past censures of Trump have already drawn the ire of his loyalists, with top campaign adviser Chris LaCivita dubbing him “an absolute moron” on social media. But perhaps Mandelson will … Read more
