Musk ‘lying like hell’ over AfD interview, says ex-EU tech leader
A former EU leader on tech has accused Elon Musk of “lying like hell” by claiming the bloc was trying to stop an interview the owner of X had set up with the co-leader of the German far-right party Alternative für Deutschland,Thierry Breton, who quit as a European commissioner in September, having overseen the passage of ambitious legislation designed to regulate big tech, said Musk had been disingenuous in claiming the EU was trying to censor his discussion with Alice Weidel, which took place on Thursday evening,The US billionaire claimed on Wednesday on his social media platform: “First, the EU tried to stop me from having an online conversation with president @realDonaldTrump,Now they want to prevent people from hearing a conversation with Alice Weidel, who might be the next chancellor of Germany,These guys really hate democracy.
”His tweet was a reference to a letter Breton wrote to Musk before a similar chat with Donald Trump in August.In the letter Breton reminded Musk of his obligation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) not to facilitate the “amplification of harmful content”.After Musk announced he would be interviewing Weidel, whose anti-immigration party is polling at about 19% in the run-up to Germany’s elections next month, Breton sent a similar warning to Weidel through a post on social media, a step which appears to have prompted Musk’s accusations on Wednesday.In an interview with the Guardian, Breton said: “Now because I sent a letter to Mrs Weidel, [Musk] is saying the EU want to prevent people from having a conversation.We are twisting information [here].
”Asked if Musk was lying, Breton said: “He is lying like hell.Nobody tried to stop him from having a conversation with Trump, nobody is trying to stop him having one in Germany.”The Frenchman said he had always had good and constructive face-to-face relations with MuskX was approached for comment and did not respond.Recently Musk mocked Breton as “annoying” and, in August, cited a quip from the US satirical film Tropic Thunder, inviting the then commissioner to “take a big step back and literally, fuck your own face”.The spat is the latest in a series started by Musk in recent weeks, including hostile attacks on the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, that have provoked fury across Europe.
Breton urged leaders to be vocal about the spread of misinformation and hate.“We need leadership, especially these days.Europe is working only if we have a strong leadership,” he said.X is under investigation by the European Commission under the DSA, partly shaped by Breton.The company has said it is “cooperating with the regulatory process” and remains “focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression”.
Sign up to Headlines EuropeA digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week dayafter newsletter promotionInsiders said an adjudication had been expected in autumn 2023 but the commission had needed to give X time to make its legal defence.Some suggested that conclusions would be published shortly.Breton declined to comment on the investigation, but said he wanted to stress that the DSA had nothing to do with silencing critics or “stopping freedom of speech”, which he said was “cherished” by all democracies in Europe.“In Europe, freedom of speech is paramount, it is extremely important in all member states for overall democracy, for the courts of justice, it is something untouchable,” he said.But, he added, it operated within a framework of laws that also banned antisemitic speech, racist hate speech and terrorist apologists, which tech companies were obliged to heed.
“These are forbidden by law in the physical space, in the street, in the media and now also in the digital space,” he said, adding that social media companies, unlike old media, had an unprecedented power to “accelerate and amplify massively” content to audiences, and that with this power came responsibility,
Rachel Reeves must handle bond sell-off with care, but this is not a Truss-level event
Borrowing costs at the highest level since 1998, the pound at a 14-month low and some major UK company shares dropping like a stone. For a government that had pledged a return to economic stability, it has been a tough start to 2025 for Rachel Reeves.As the chancellor prepared to fly to China to promote closer economic ties with Beijing, the blow-up in the bond market appeared to ease on Thursday after a rough couple of days. But Reeves is still battling a political fire and comparisons to Liz Truss’s ill-fated mini-budget.Conditions in the market for UK government bonds, known as gilts, have been far from helpful for Reeves
Liz Truss sends legal letter ordering Starmer to stop saying she crashed economy
Liz Truss has sent a legal letter to Keir Starmer demanding he stops making “false and defamatory” claims that she crashed the economy.The former prime minister sent a six-page “cease and desist” letter accusing Starmer of harming her reputation and contributing to her losing her South West Norfolk seat in the general election.The row came as the UK’s long-term borrowing costs hit their highest level since the 2008 banking crisis, and the value of the pound reached its lowest point in a year.Truss’s legal letter argued that the market meltdown that followed her disastrous mini-budget in October 2022 could not accurately be described as “a crash of the economy” because it did not involve a fall in GDP or rise in unemployment.Citing a report by the economist and rightwing commentator Andrew Lilico for Europe Economics, the letter said the economic turmoil was the result of factors over which Truss had “no control”
Ties between Labour MP Tulip Siddiq and deposed Bangladeshi regime under spotlight
Tulip Siddiq reacted with anger when she was confronted in 2017 by reporters from Channel 4 asking her to intervene in the case of Ahmad bin Quasem, a British-educated lawyer who had allegedly been abducted in Bangladesh by the regime of Siddiq’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina.“Are you aware that I am a British MP and that I’m born in London?” she asked Alex Thomson, the channel’s chief correspondent. “Are you implying that I’m a Bangladeshi? Because I don’t think that’s the right thing to imply.”Despite Siddiq’s insistence that she has little to do with her aunt’s now-deposed government in Dhaka, the City minister is now under pressure to explain why she has benefited from property paid for by people connected with that regime.Siddiq, who has responsibility for UK anti-corruption policy, has referred herself to Laurie Magnus, the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, to decide whether she has broken the ministerial code
Half of England’s county councils due to hold elections could ask for delay – reports
Half of the county councils due to have elections in England this spring could ask to have them postponed.Local elections are due to take place in 21 county council areas in England in May, but at least 12 of them are poised to ask ministers for a delay, the BBC and the Times reported.Angela Rayner, the local government secretary, has given councils until Friday to request that their elections be delayed so that they can explore the potential for restructuring their local authority as part of devolution plans.Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has reacted furiously to the potential delay. Several of the councils that have asked to postpone the ballots, including Essex and Thurrock, are key Reform target areas
Civil service morale worsened despite improving pay levels, survey finds
Morale and churn in the UK civil service worsened despite average pay almost bouncing back to real-terms levels last seen in 2010, an annual survey has found.The Whitehall Monitor report, by the Institute for Government (IfG) thinktank, due to be published next Thursday, found that average civil service pay rose for the 2023-24 financial year, with the government settling disputes that had led to industrial action.However, its analysis of morale for 2023 found the mean “engagement” score dipped slightly for the third year in row, while churn in jobs – those who move between departments or leave the civil service entirely – went up by a percentage point to 12.7%.Although the figures relate to a period before the Labour government came to power, the IfG said its report underlined the challenge Keir Starmer faces as he tries to reform the civil service and make it more dynamic
Post-cold war peace ‘well and truly over’, warns David Lammy
The post-cold war era is “well and truly over” and keeping the British people safe means standing up to Russia, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has warned.Writing in the Guardian before a meeting likely to be focused on Ukraine between the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Downing Street, Lammy insists “keeping the British people safe means standing up to the Kremlin. Working with our friends and allies to deter Putin’s mafia state.”He also says facing down the new geopolitical threats will require a revamped Foreign Office that accepts that the distinctions between international and domestic policy have become more blurred than ever before.In a statement of this intent, Lammy announced the Foreign Office will introduce the first standalone sanctions regime in the world directed at freezing the UK assets of people smugglers and organised crime entities
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