Greater than half of voters assume Elon Musk is having a unfavourable impact on British politics following his criticism of Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage, in response to the most recent Opinium ballot for the Observer.
The South African-born billionaire has spent a lot of the previous week utilizing his social media platform X to assault Starmer and the Labour authorities for his or her opposition to a different nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs. He accused Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of being a “rape genocide apologist” and falsely claimed Starmer was “deeply complicit within the mass rapes in trade for votes”. Regardless of robust recommendations that Musk is making ready to make a big donation to Reform UK, he additionally just lately tore into Nigel Farage, saying he was less than the job of main the social gathering.
In a single submit on X Musk requested his 212 million followers whether or not America ought to “liberate” the UK from its “tyrannical authorities” below Starmer.
Final week the Monetary Occasions reported that he had been discussing with allies methods to take away Keir Starmer from Downing Avenue.
However when Opinium requested for views on Musk, it discovered that 53% of voters believed Musk was having a unfavourable influence on British politics, in comparison with simply 12% who thought he was having a constructive one. On his feedback about grooming gangs particularly, 47% mentioned they thought Musk was being “unhelpful”, in comparison with 26% who thought the other.
Reform UK supporters had been unimpressed by his declare that Farage ought to stand down as social gathering chief, with 71% saying the Clacton MP was the most effective chief they might have now.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social analysis at Opinium, mentioned a “lack of enthusiasm a couple of international billionaire involving himself in British politics” was “one space of settlement” among the many public. Farage has mentioned that he disagrees with Musk over his help for far-right activist Tommy Robinson and that he has spoken to Musk since his feedback about him not being as much as the job. Farage says he doesn’t consider that any lasting harm has been finished to their relationship.
Opinium discovered that the general public was break up on the problem of holding one other nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs, with 36% backing the concept. A complete of 28% thought native councils ought to maintain their very own inquiries whereas the federal government targeted on implementing the suggestions of the impartial inquiry into little one sexual abuse that reported in 2022.
Drummond mentioned: “If you happen to ask voters ‘Ought to there be an inquiry into an essential situation’ the reply shall be ‘sure’. It feels like doing one thing about the issue and doesn’t actually think about alternative prices. So it’s not stunning that the numbers are extra nuanced after we put precise programs of motion in entrance of individuals.”
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Approval of the Labour authorities’s dealing with of the problem was a web minus 17%, however approval of the earlier Conservative authorities’s method was even decrease at minus 27%. There was little help for the Tories’ present method both, which scored a web approval ranking of minus 11%.
Opinium surveyed 2,050 UK adults on-line between 8 and 10 January.
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