Keir Starmer has hit back at Elon Musk’s claim that “very few” businesses want to invest in Britain under Labour – pointing to billions of pounds worth of money that have come into the UK since he became prime minister.
No 10 also said the government would continue to take an “unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach”.
The tycoon and close ally of Donald Trump claimed on his platform X, formerly Twitter, that the “current administration” was responsible for stopping cash coming into the UK.
He was responding to a call from a Scottish politician asking Tesla, his car company, to open a gigafactory in the country.
In response, Downing Street said: “If you look at what’s happened since the election, you’ve seen £63bn of traditional investment” from an investment summit the PM held in October.
Sir Keir’s official spokesperson added: “Business investment in the third quarter this year is estimated to increase 4.5 per cent compared to this time last year. I think you’ve seen reports out today suggesting that the vast majority of UK businesses expect their turnover to increase next year, up on last year.”
They added that “the government is taking an unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach.”
Sir Keir had clashed with Mr Musk in August after the billionaire entrepreneur claimed in a post on X that “civil war” was “inevitable” in Britain.
Mr Musk also hit out at the prime minister, calling him #twotierkeir, using the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory, which claims different types of protesters are treated differently by the police.
Nigel Farage met Mr Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion recently, amid rumours the tech billionaire is preparing to donate up to $100m to Reform UK.
The money would be by far the largest donation in British electoral history.
According to The Sunday Times, leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials believe that Mr Musk could hand over the cash as a “f*** you Starmer” payment as part of his feud with the prime minister.
The “first buddy” of Mr Trump even shared a post on X, claiming that Reform UK will win the next general election, captioning his repost with the word “Yes”.
Asked by ITV about the reports of the massive donation, Mr Musk denied he was planning to give $100m, but his response did not rule out another amount.
Asked if he was planning to give the upstart party £80m, Mr Musk – who has been appointed by Mr Trump to lead a new government efficiency commission in the US – replied “No”.
Mr Farage has previously described Mr Musk as “very supportive”.
“He thinks that if Reform do well in the UK, we can bring about the same kind of change that he intends to do with Donald Trump in America,” the party leader said.
