'You either fight back or you die,' Elon Musk tells UK protestors at Tommy Robinson's rally

LAST UPDATE | 7 hrs ago

ELON MUSK CALLED for a change of Government in the UK and railed against the “woke mind virus” as he spoke at Tommy Robinson’s rally in London.

The X owner claimed a “dissolution of Parliament” is needed and said “massive uncontrolled migration” was contributing to the “destruction of Britain” in comments via video link.

He also told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”.

The Tesla boss has waded into British politics before, notably when he started a war of words with the UK Government over the grooming gangs scandal.

He has also criticised the UK’s Online Safety Act, calling the legislation a threat to free speech.

He had a warm relationship with Nigel Farage, and there were even rumours he could channel a donation to his party before Musk called for the Reform UK leader to be replaced during a dispute over his support for Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The tech billionaire appeared at the rally on Saturday after Ben Habib, the former deputy of Reform UK who now leads Advance UK, a political party Robinson has joined.

Musk said: “I think there’s something beautiful about being British and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration.

“A failure by the Government to protect innocent people including children who are getting gang-raped. It’s unreal the Government has failed in its duty to protect its citizens which is a fundamental duty of government.”

He called for a change of Government in Britain.

He said: “You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long.

“Something’s got to be done. There’s got to be a dissolution of Parliament and a new vote held.”

Musk was interviewed by Robinson and appeared on a screen on stage so protesters could watch.

Around 110,000 people were estimated by police to have gathered in Whitehall, London, for the “Unite the Kingdom” event, which faced counter-protests by around 5,000 anti-racism campaigners.

At the end of the interview, Robinson said: “Not only are we in the fight right now, but we’re on the advance thanks to free speech being fought for, for us, by Elon Musk.”

Musk called the political left “the party of murder” in reference to the death of Charlie Kirk, the Donald Trump ally and co-founder of right-wing young organisation Turning Point USA who was shot this week.

“The left is the party of murder and celebrating murder. I mean, let that sink in for a minute, that’s who we’re dealing with here,” he said.

He said that the British public are “scared to exercise their free speech” and claimed the BBC was “complicit in the destruction of Britain”.

He said he wanted to appeal to “British common sense” and “the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics”.

“My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice,” he added.

“You’re in a fundamental situation here. Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you.

“You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.”

He also railed against the “woke mind virus” and said decisions for advancement should be on merit rather than “discrimination on the basis of sex, or religion or any race or anything else”.

He said: “A lot of the woke stuff is actually super-racist, it’s super-sexist and often it’s anti-religion, but only anti-Christian, like why anti-Christian? That’s unfair.

“This is why I give my message to the reasonable middle: ‘Do you not want a world where there is fairness, common sense and you advance as a function of how hard you work and your talent and your integrity?’.

“That should be all that matters, the woke mind virus, that I call it, is against all that.”

‘Unite the Kingdom’

Huge crowds, many draped in English and British flags, gathered through the morning just south of Westminster for what Robinson, a veteran of UK far-right organising, has branded the country’s “biggest free speech festival”.

His latest “Unite the Kingdom” event saw attendees march over Westminster Bridge before rallying near Downing Street for speeches by far-right figures from across Europe and North America.

“The silent majority will be silent no longer,” Robinson told the crowd. “Today is the spark of a cultural revolution.”

UK police said an estimated 110,000 people attended, noting it used a combination of CCTV and police helicopter footage for its estimate.

Nine people were arrested after clashes with police. 

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A stage was set up to hear a series of speeches from far-right personalities and politicians and included an interview between Robinson and Musk, who accorded with the overriding theme of the day by proclaiming the “destruction of Britain” because of “massive uncontrolled migration”.

But, police said, the Robinson crowd was too big to fit into Whitehall and confrontation happened when police tried to stop them from accessing the area from different routes.

A spokesman said: “When officers moved in to stop them, they faced unacceptable violence. They were assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown.

“Nine arrests have been made so far for various offences, but many more people have been identified as committing offences. We will find them and they will face police action, even if it is not possible to do so today.

“Officers are continuing to face aggression in multiple locations, in particular at the north of Whitehall as they work to create a safe exit route for those who have been taking part in the Stand Up To Racism protest.”

At one point, projectiles were thrown by Robinson protesters towards the counter-demonstrators as thousands from both sides stared each other down on Whitehall.

A line of police horses faced the sea of Union flags and at one point, a glass bottle appeared to smash against a horse, causing the horse and rider to stagger backwards.

Around 5,000 people attended a Stand Up to Racism march a mile or so to the north, as police deployed about 1,000 police to keep the rival groups apart.

The duelling demonstrations come amid growing anti-immigration sentiment, as Brexit supporter Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK leads in polls and protesters target hotels used to house asylum seekers.

Robinson, 42, who has a string of criminal convictions and a big online following after years spearheading a fervent anti-Muslim and anti-migrant agenda, increasingly fuses those themes with claims that Britain is now hostile to free speech.

“Everyday in the papers you read things and you’re being left stunned – arresting people because they dared to talk about immigration or gender issues,” Philip Dodge, a retired baker from Sheffield, central England, told news agency AFP.

He had travelled with his wife to the event, which was also being watched by hundreds of thousands of viewers on livestreams.

“I’m very concerned. I never thought I’d see this in this country.”

Speakers

Other attendees, which included women and young people, said they were more worried about migration.

“It’s an invasion,” 28-year-old Ritchie, who only gave his first name, said of the record levels of UK immigration in recent years, including tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving annually on small boats across the Channel.

“They don’t understand we want our country back,” he said of the ruling centre-left Labour government and its Conservative predecessors, calling Robinson “a hero”.

At the anti-racism event, veteran Labour lawmaker Diane Abbott accused Robinson and his allies of spreading “nonsense” and “dangerous” lies that asylum seekers were a threat.

“We need to be in solidarity with asylum seekers, and we need to show that we are united,” she told Sky News.

London police, who drafted in officers from other forces to manage the crowds, have placed conditions on the protest routes and timings, insisting they end at different times and that both conclude by evening.

Some at Robinson’s event attached to their placards photos of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing American activist and ally of Donald Trump who was shot to death this week.

Other signs included slogans like “stop the boats” and derided Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

‘Culture wars’

Planned speakers included French politician Eric Zemmour, controversial Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and Petr Bystron of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Reports said former White House strategist Steve Bannon would also address the crowds.

The event comes just over a year after anti-immigration riots swept several cities, which Robinson was accused of fuelling with incendiary online posts, and as free speech concerns become more mainstream.

The government has faced widespread criticism after banning the Palestine Action group in July. Police have since arrested under anti-terror laws hundreds of peaceful protesters holding up signs supporting the group.

Meanwhile, the recent arrest of award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan for allegedly insulting transgender people online prompted widespread derision.

After Linehan was detained, Starmer urged police to “focus on the most serious issues”.

However London’s Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley said the law needed changing and that he did not believe his officers “should be policing toxic culture wars debates”.

The influence of Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was thought to be waning after various legal and other woes.

But his profile has rocketed since his X account was reinstated in November 2023, following billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform.

© Agence France-Presse and Press Association