Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has not been invited to the UK government’s International Investment Summit in October. This decision comes in response to Musk’s controversial social media posts during last month’s riots in the UK, the BBC reports.
The riots erupted after a stabbing attack in Southport, which claimed the lives of three children attending a dance class. During the unrest, Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) predicting a “civil war” in the UK and repeatedly attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The International Investment Summit is a crucial event for the government to attract tens of billions in foreign investment for UK businesses. Last year, Musk attended the summit and played a prominent role in November’s AI Summit, including a fireside chat with then-PM Rishi Sunak.
During the August riots, Musk shared and later deleted a conspiracy theory about the UK building “detainment camps” on the Falkland Islands for rioters. Ministers at the time described his comments as “totally unjustifiable” and “pretty deplorable.”
The BBC understands that this is the reason Musk has not been invited to join hundreds of the world’s biggest investors at the October 14th event. The government and Musk have been approached for comment.
The summit, taking place two weeks before the Budget, is seen as a significant opportunity to attract foreign investment to boost the UK economy. The Labour Party had committed to holding this event within its first 100 days in office.
Under the previous Conservative government, Musk, who owns or runs X, Tesla, and SpaceX, was quietly shown around various UK sites with potential for a gigafactory for cars and batteries. He has previously cited Brexit as a factor in his decision to open a site in Germany rather than the UK.
Musk is a regular attendee at the equivalent French summit. In July, he joined a three-hour lunch with top executives and President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the Olympics.
Since Musk’s takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter, he has lifted the ban on far-right figures, including the Britain First group. The UK is now considering a tougher Online Safety Act in response to the role of misinformation in the widespread racist disorder in August.
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