SHAMELESS Elon Musk has likened Britain to the Soviet Union over its crackdown on riot thugs spreading lies online.
Musk has doubled down after his spat with Keir Starmer over the tech boss’s claim that the UK faces “civil war”.
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Sir Keir Starmer slapped down Elon Musk’s claim that a British civil war is inevitableCredit: PA
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The tech boss also told Sir Keir he should be concerned ‘about all communities’Credit: AP
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Rioters in south Belfast lobbed petrol bombs at police vansCredit: Press Eye
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Thugs attacking riot cops in PlymouthCredit: Wayne Perry
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Muslim graves were desecrated in BurnleyCredit: Twitter
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Six people were arrested in Plymouth last nightCredit: Wayne Perry
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Cop vehicles were hit by petrol bombs in BelfastCredit: Twitter
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Downing Street said there was “no justification” for the Musk’s comments, sparking a war of words.
Musk had replied to a Tommy Robinson tweet falsely claiming Muslims are responsible for the riots saying “civil war is inevitable”.
The PM hit back at his comments and said the government would not “tolerate attacks on Muslim communities”.
In response, Musk said Starmer should be concerned about attacks on “all communities”.
Shameless Musk also turned fire on British cops, saying their response has been “one-sided”.
He was commenting on a post parroting the “two-tier policing” conspiracy.
‘Two-tier policing’ is a phrase used to describe the belief that some protests are dealt with more harshly than others – and has been promoted by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Musk said policing “does seem one-sided”.
Justice Secretary Heidi Alexander told Times Radio: “I do think these comments are unjustifiable.
“If you’ve got a platform, a large social media platform, then you’ve also got a responsibility.
“I think it is deeply irresponsible. I think everyone should be appealing for calm.
It comes as…
She added: “Use of language such as a civil war is in no way acceptable.”
Speaking on LBC, she added: “It’s unconscionable. To be exercising his power in such an irresponsible way is pretty unconscionable.”
Yesterday cops arrested two people over a Snapchat post allegedly inciting violence towards a hotel in Cheshire.
The post falsely claimed that the hotel was home to a number of asylum seekers.
The 32-year-old man and 34-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion racially aggravated harassment with intent to cause fear and violence.
The pair have since been released on conditional bail pending further enquiries.
Violent clashes broke out in dozens of UK towns and cities last week and continued over the weekend.
They have been fuelled by lies spread on Twitter following the murders of three girls in Southport on Monday.
Posts wrongly claimed suspect Axel Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Rudakubana, 17, was actually born in Cardiff and raised as a Christian.
Phillips accused of ‘making excuses’ for masked men
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has been accused of “making excuses” for the masked men seen abusing members of the media in Birmingham.
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly called for the minister to “think about the consequences” of her words after she posted about the unsavoury scenes in her constituency.
Men in balaclavas, some carrying Palestinian flags, gathered outside a mosque in the Bordesley Green area in response to rumours far fight thugs were planning to target it.
Some footage showed some of them targeting a Sky News crew, including a reporter.
MP for Birmingham Yardley said in response to a clip: “These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them. This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content.”
Mr Cleverly criticised her for the comments, writing on social media: “Home Office ministers should not be making excuses for masked men shouting, abusing, and intimidating members of the media.
“Ministers are not commentators or casual observers, they are decision makers and need to think about the consequences of words and actions.”
Yesterday top cop Graham Wettone said Musk must remove fake news to stop the spread of misinformation.
Wettone told The Sun that companies like Musk’s Twitter bear responsibility for allowing falsehoods to be posted online.
When asked whether social media moguls such as Elon Musk need to take a look at how they are handling people like Tommy Robinson online, Mr Wettone said: “I think so.
” I think they clearly earn a very good living out of social media platforms and online platforms and the amount of people that use them these days.
“I think that what comes with that is a responsibility to manage your platforms properly and lawfully and reasonably.
“So I think that there is a burden of responsibility on any of those social media companies to look at the the content that they are allowing to be broadcast or placed onto their sites and review it far more quickly.
“And remove anything and then block the user whenever they can.
“There’s there’s some awful stuff appearing on social media in the last week or so, and it stays on there for days.
Keir Starmer reacts to another weekend of violence across the UK
“And even if you complain about something, it can take some time for it to be removed and the user to be blocked.
“But I think they need to be a lot better at managing the information.
“The misinformation around this whole incident has been appalling.”
It comes as yobs have lobbed petrol bombs, bricks and bottles at cops, stormed a pub and chucked paint over graves in ANOTHER night of carnage.
Thugs hurled petrol bombs at police vans in south Belfast last night – while cops came under attack in Plymouth.
In Burnley, gravestones in a Muslim cemetery were vandalised in what the town’s council leader called an “evil act” by “heinous individuals”.
Six people were arrested in Plymouth after cops were injured in the violence.
And in Birmingham masked protesters interrupted a live news broadcast shouting “F*** the EDL” – before swarming a pub.
In south Belfast, thugs hurled stones and petrol bombs at police vans near a supermarket which had been torched at the weekend.
More than 400 people have now been arrested over the week of carnage on Britain’s streets.
Twenty-eight people will appear at court today following rioting in Middlesbrough on Sunday, cops said.
The individuals will appear at Teesside Magistrates’ Court charged with violent disorder and other offences.
Eight people have also been charged in connection with disturbances that broke out during protests in Nottingham city centre.
Former counter-terror chief Neil Basu said some of the violence over the past week has “crossed the line into terrorism”.
Basu told the BBC: “I think we have seen serious acts of violence designed to cause terror to a section of our community.”
He said the riots had been sparked by “lies spread through social media” – urging the government to take action.
Basu also slammed Tommy Robinson for “glorifying and creating violence from his sunbed in the Mediterranean”.
Robinson, 41, aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had a UK arrest warrant issued against him last Monday after he skipped a court appearance.
The far-right agitator has now fled to a all-inclusive resort in Cyprus – where he has posted a string of inflammatory tweets.
He said: “Yaxley-Lennon knows well he’s in the full glare of policing, counter-terrorism policing, and the security service.
“He has spent many years skirting round various fringes of the law.
“He has been able to inflame and toxify debates and create the kind of mayhem we’re seeing.
“If he is not crossing a legal threshold, then the government and society need to consider if that threshold is in the wrong place.”
Footage shows how thugs in the Northern Irish capital hurled petrol bombs at police vans.
South Belfast resident Mohammed Idris told the BBC he won’t reopen his cafe after vile thugs torched it at the weekend.
Riot cops were deployed to Sandy Row last night close to a supermarket that was set on fire.
Bottles, petrol bombs and planks of wood were then thrown at police vehicles during the unrest.
Officers with riot shields were seen standing firm as they lined up in a show of force despite missiles sailing through the air.
Youths dressed in black were also seen throwing stones at police Land Rovers.
How riots rocked Britain
Violent clashes broke out in dozens of towns and cities last week and over the weekend following the murders of three girls in Southport.
They have been fuelled by online posts wrongly claiming suspect Axel Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Rudakubana, 17, was actually born in Cardiff and raised as a Christian.
Terrifying violence erupted hours after the attack in Southport later spreading to Hartlepool and Manchester on Wednesday.
Riots then broke out in Sunderland and Blackpool on Friday – and in 11 more cities on Saturday and Sunday.
Mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers have been attacked while shops owned by ethnic minority Brits have been looted.
Hundreds of thugs petrol-bombed a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham near Sheffield on Sunday.
Yobs also petrol-bombed a Holiday Inn hosting asylum seekers in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
And last night thugs lobbed petrol bombs, bricks and bottles at cops, stormed a pub and chucked paint over graves in ANOTHER night of carnage.
Rioters hurled petrol bombs at police vans in south Belfast last night – while cops came under attack in Plymouth.
In Burnley, gravestones in a Muslim cemetery were vandalised in what the town’s council leader called an “evil act” by “heinous individuals”.
Six people were arrested in Plymouth after cops were injured in the violence.
And in Birmingham masked protesters interrupted a live news broadcast shouting “F*** the EDL” – before swarming a pub.
The violence has been fuelled by a “rogues’ gallery” of far-right agitators including Tommy Robinson, Andrew Tate and Britain First’s Paul Golding.
In Plymouth, three cops were injured after far-right supporters pelted them with stones and lumps of concrete in fresh clashes.
Several protesters also suffered injuries, bins were set on fire and fireworks were hurled as the opposing groups collided in the seaside city.
More than 150 cops were deployed by Devon and Cornwall Police in a bid to get a grip on the situation.
Officers with riot shields stood firm and have been seen shoving back protesters from both sides who provoked them.
One male officer was pulled off the line with an apparent injury while several protesters needed treatment for head wounds.
Birmingham also saw chaotic scenes as a Sky News van was attacked by knife-wielding man.
Meanwhile, hundreds of yobs wearing balaclavas descended on a pub with a man viciously attacked.
But there were powerful scenes in Liverpool, where mosque leaders embraced far-right protesters and offered them food – reducing some to tears.
Yesterday Sir Keir chaired the first emergency Cobra meeting since the riots began.
He warned: “If you’re inciting violence, it doesn’t matter whether it’s online or offline . . . I expect there to be arrests and prosecution.”
Nearly 400 people have been arrested a week on from the fatal Southport stabbing attacks.
Sir Keir said a “standing army” of specialist officers are now on hand to deal with the disorder.
More than 500 prison places will open up next week so more rioters can be locked up.
Sir Keir rejected claims of two-tier policing, where right-wing protests are considered to be dealt with more harshly than left-wing ones.
Met chief Sir Mark Rowley appeared to knock a reporter’s microphone to the floor when quizzed about two-tier policing after the Cobra meeting.
I fear the far right but I also fear where failed integration is taking UK
By MERCY MUROKI
AS an immigrant, I’m afraid of the far right. But I also fear failed integration.
I’ve never been ashamed to say I love this country.
Since I arrived on these shores as a Kenyan immigrant at the age of five, my family and I have embraced British life.
Recognising initially that we were guests in a foreign country, my family knew that integrating into Britain would not only benefit us, it would benefit those around us as well.
For 23 years, we have made this country our home, contributing to the economy and society.
My Mum? As a care worker doing the undervalued but immensely important job of looking after the elderly.
Myself? Through making sure I got a good education, joining the workforce at 16 and contributing to the country’s social, political and economic life.
I have always felt safe in this country, hopeful that the racial unrest of bygone decades was gone for good.
The recent spate of violence by far-right, anti-immigration protestors has made me feel, for the first time, a little bit less safe walking down the streets of what I now consider to be my own country.
I share the national rage that a diabolical individual was able to stab three innocent girls to death and injure many more.
I share the horrors and fears that people feel about a crumbling country — including the seemingly endless conveyor belt of violent crime incidents, the troubling hikes in immigration and a growing system of two-tier rules.
The thugs who have hijacked the recent atrocity to wreak mayhem on our streets are not only a disgrace to British values, they dishonour the memory of those children in the most abhorrent way.
Yes, not everyone at these protests is a far-right extremist.
In fact, I’ll be the first to say that painting all protestors with the same brush is fanning the flames further.
But those few who are out to cause violent disorder while claiming they are defending their country are nothing but opportunistic thugs.
I, an immigrant, am more British than them. True patriots don’t beat up innocent civilians or loot shops.
They don’t burn down buildings, attack police men and women, and terrorise communities.
That being said, let’s face facts. Far-right ideology is an insidious scourge.
While politicians rightly condemn the carnage caused by these hateful mobs, they MUST also acknowledge the need to tackle legitimate concerns that exist around immigration.
I fear the far right — and, equally, I fear where failed integration is taking this country.
Of course, we must do more to combat genuine far-right sentiments — I don’t just mean anyone who is worried about immigration or who believes multiculturalism has failed.
It is right to crack down on the deliberate spread of lies intended to incite racial and religious violence.
It is right to champion facts and evidence to bust conspiracy theories spread by genuine white supremacists.
It is just as important to be proactive in undoing years of political inaction on integration.
It’s all well and good for the Prime Minister to get up on his No 10 podium and “guarantee” to bring the “full force of the law” crashing down on racist thugs.
The real test of bravery is whether he can also promise to take seriously the concerns of ordinary law-abiding citizens about the failures of immigration, integration and multiculturalism.
Most importantly, can he guarantee policy over platitudes?
It is within the Government’s gift to strengthen integration and boost social cohesion.
The Government can start by tightening rules and expectations around assimilation.
Integration isn’t a dirty word — expecting those who we allow into our country to respect our values makes us no less civil and no less benevolent as a country.
More stringent requirements and background checks should be applied to anyone who wants to make Britain their home to avoid importing unnecessary security threats from abroad to add to those we already have here.
There should also be stronger systems for reporting individuals with radical views, and identifying those who get sucked into conspiracy theories and express a wish to harm innocent people.
Frankly, these rules should apply both to foreign and home-grown extremists, be they radical Islamists, white supremacists or deranged lone wolves.
This is not about being a punitive police state that strips people of freedoms at the faintest whiff that they’re a wrong’un, or just because they happen to be an immigrant.
It is about protecting communities for all those who want to see this country thrive as a civil, orderly place that is home to people from around the world.
The far right has no place in 2024, yet only by addressing how government failures also fuel division can we reckon with the problem.
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Riot cops stood firm as missiles were hurled in PlymouthCredit: BPM Media
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Cops separated two opposing groups by forming linesCredit: Getty
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A mob of thugs attacked a pub in Birmingham after another day of unrest in the UKCredit: X
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In Birmingham masked protesters interrupted a live news broadcastCredit: Sky
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Mosque leaders embraced far-right protesters in LiverpoolCredit: Reuters
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Local Muslims offered the protesters food – reducing some to tearsCredit: Reuters
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education