SIR Keir Starmer dreamt of a close relationship with the Trump administration — but Elon Musk is turning it into a nightmare.
The world’s richest man has used his social media site X/Twitter to launch an all-out war on the Labour PM.
In a series of explosive posts, Musk accused Sir Keir of covering up rape gangs, claiming he should be prosecuted.
He also called on the King to dissolve Parliament and call an election.
Musk went on to demand Tommy Robinson be released from prison.
The scale of this online assault would leave any No10 team spinning.
But for Sir Keir it is a potential hammer blow to his hopes of a special relationship with the Trump White House.
“It is bad”, one Labour insider said. “For now we are sticking to a vow of silence on the Musk stuff — we don’t want to inflame tensions.”
Elon Musk is not only the world’s richest man with the power to make or break economies with his investments.
He is also part of Donald Trump’s new administration and has the ear of the incoming US President.
He was there with Trump at Mar-a-Lago for election night, and will be firmly by his side advising him on policy in the White House.
Musk describes himself as coming from an English/British background and has spoken fondly of his “tough but sensible” Liverpudlian nana, Cora Amelia Robinson.
But he thinks the UK is facing terminal decline — smothered by high taxes, anti-business red tape and pointless woke diktats.
If he urges Trump not to bother cutting a deal with the UK and to clobber us with the same crippling trade tariffs he is planning for China and the EU, it will mean higher prices and perhaps job losses here.
With growth already flat-lining and some warning a recession is looming, this would be devastating for No10 and, more importantly, Britain.
Musk is not just an economic risk to Sir Keir — he is a political one too.
The billionaire Tesla boss has already met with Nigel Farage.
He is constantly posting online about the “need for Reform”.
And he is thinking of donating as much as £80million to the party.
If he signs that cheque, you can bet Nigel will use the cash to target Labour’s Red Wall seats.
So, what is Sir Keir going to do about his Elon Musk problem?
First, they are adopting a “keep calm and carry” strategy.
The PM is staying quiet on the personal attacks.
Most Labour MPs have followed his lead — including Home Office minister Jess Phillips who Musk suggested should be thrown in prison for not ordering a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
As one Cabinet minister tells me: “It is clear that politicians on the Right of British politics are winding Musk up — but as a government we want to have a more constructive relationship with him.”
Charm offensive, and time with the royals
The Government hopes once Trump is sworn in and sitting in the Oval Office, cooler heads will prevail.
They are hoping Marco Rubio — who has been appointed Trump’s Secretary of State — will cool things.
Peter Mandelson, our new ambassador to the US, will be crucial.
It is hoped he will be up and running in Washington by the end of January.
Mandy has previously talked about the possibility of using Nigel Farage to help charm Musk and Trump, and while some in No10 do not like that idea, I am told by his allies that he has not ruled it out.
He also could enlist the help of his old boss Tony Blair, who is friendly with Musk.
No10 are also sticking to their plan to roll out the red carpet for Trump.
Starmer’s closest aides have spent much of Christmas coming up with ideas for their US charm offensive.
The plan is for Sir Keir to visit Trump within the first month of him taking office.
Expect a swift invite for the US President to come to Britain for a full bells-and-whistles tour — including spending time with the royals.
Also, about a month ago government departments were told not to launch accounts on Bluesky — a rival to X.
Were they trying to avoid offending Musk?
But if Musk carries on his war on Starmer while in government then expect Britain to start raising it with the Trump administration.
The Government believes it will be harder for Musk to freelance on foreign policy once Trump is in the White House.
Privately, Government figures here say the US would not stand for it — so it should not be done to Britain.
But will Trump be in the mood to listen? Or will Musk still have his ear?
SCHOOLS should cut down on museum and theatre trips because they are too middle class, a professor of social mobility has suggested.
Apparently, working-class kids should be taken to graffiti workshops instead as this would be more inclusive.
What a terrible idea.
Britain has brilliant museums brimming with the wonders of the world.
Depriving kids of trips to see these treasures because of some half-baked theory that they could find them “alienating” is bizarre and insulting.
My mum took me and my brother to the British Museum all the time.
It was free and brilliant.
We would go to see the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone and imagine we were Indiana Jones discovering history’s secrets for the first time.
But my favourite were the Egyptian mummies.
The British museum is full of them.
It even has mummies of cats, snakes and crocs dating back thousands of years.
If anything, schools should get in there quick to visit places like the British museum – before these treasures are packed up and sent back abroad.
SO much has been written about the shoplifting epidemic but I still get shocked when I hear the realities of this brazen crime.
My friend works in a beer shop in London and they have been targeted several times recently.
Things have become so bad they now lock the door and only let in customers if they knock.
When will we get a grip on this lawlessness?
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to put bobbies on the beat around busy shopping streets.
I am not saying they will necessarily catch these armed shoplifters in the act (although they might).
But it will put the thugs off and instil some kind of law and order.
One thing is for sure: things must not be allowed to go on as they are now.
I SEE that Megan Markle has a new show coming out on Netflix, where she frolics around her kitchen making gorgeous cakes and arranging pretty flowers.
With her make up immaculate and hair with just the right amount of bounce, she sprinkles edible flowers on freshly iced doughnuts, as her voice-over breathlessly tells viewers: “We are not in the pursuit of perfection, we are in the pursuit of joy.“
So Megan has gone all trad wife.
Here she is with her own cooking and lifestyle show.
The message to us ladies appears to be: You can have it all, just like me.
If you artfully slice carrots, drizzle olive oil from a lofty height on to your salad and scoop perfect spheres of ice cream for your summer fruits sundaes, then you too can bag a prince!
Although it probably helps if you have a giant kitchen, swanky new range cooker and a sprawling herb garden just outside.
This Megan appears to be a far-cry from her past eras.
What happened to the feminist political campaigner?
Was she forgotten in a flower arranging frenzy?
Anyway, I think I’ll stick with Nigella.
GLASTONBURY is Britain’s biggest festival – but has it become too corporate?
Veteran rocker Neil Young sparked the debate after he said he wouldn’t play there because it was under the “corporate control” of the BBC – although he has now changed his mind.
Meanwhile, new accounts reveal the once-hippy dippy festival in Somerset raked in a record £5.9million in profit last year.
It got me thinking of the happy times I have spent stomping around Worthy Farm.
I first went with a gang of mates as a teenager – it was free because of our age.
We got our faces painted and frolicked around the Stone Circle at sunrise.
Back then pretty much anyone could just put on a yellow high-viz vest and wander in.
But over the years there is no doubt it has lost some of its alternative edge.
Tickets have soared to a whopping £373.50 (plus booking fee!) and there are a dwindling number of tie dye-clad free spirits roaming around with their healing crystals.
Instead, there are more punters in designer wellies lounging about the growing number of corporate-sponsored VIP fields complete with wifi, clean(ish) loos and even hot water.
Sometimes I think I miss old Glastonbury.
But I have to confess that when I was last there, and I was ankle deep in mud, I was glad of the posh corporate bathrooms!
ARE the Tories who defected to Labour before the election having buyer’s remorse?
Last April, ex-minister Dan Poulter quit to join Keir Starmer’s crew.
The news added to the sense that Labour were on their way to No10.
At the time everyone thought Dr Poulter would get a peerage once Labour were in No10.
But his name was missing from Sir Keir’s peerages list.
Politics is a fickle game.
Perhaps Dr Poulter won’t get his ermine after all . . .
