Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has called Elon Musk’s claim civil war was inevitable in the UK “delusional”.
In his first major speech since declaring his bid for the Conservative leadership, the former security minister hit out at the billionaire X owner who has been criticising Sir Keir Starmer’s response to the week of riots that broke out following the Southport stabbings.
Musk had said “civil war is inevitable” during the middle of the riots, which saw violent disorder in many cities and towns across the UK.
Mr Tugendhat said: “Frankly I found those comments delusional and simply false. The question as to how we operate on social media is a difficult one.”
Giving the example of TikTok, he said: “I refuse to be on TikTok because the algorithm is set by a foreign dictatorship. Others make different choices.”
The former soldier was talking hours after an IPSOS poll found three in five people do not care who becomes the next Conservative leader, including 36% of people who voted for the party in July.
Read more: Who is running in the Conservative Party leadership race?
Putting himself forward as a centrist candidate, Mr Tugendhat spoke about “two-tier policing”, something Musk has also accused the prime minister of being in favour of.
The term describes where some protesters are treated more favourably than others – something Sir Keir has denied.
Mr Tugendhat said he did not believe there was a two-tier approach to policing in the UK, but said there is “inconsistency” in some cases.
The shadow security minister said: “A two-tier approach suggests there is an active choice to treat communities differently. I don’t believe that that is the case.”
He said “inconsistency leads to lack of predictability” and said he could not be sure a protest in London would be handled “like the Gaza protests or other protests”.
Consistency helps police officers “know how they can act, but also helps the public know how they can feel safe”, he said.
Read more:
Musk v Starmer: What have they accused each other of in riots row?
Respect for police needs to be restored
Mr Tugendhat also said police should be making arrests during protests that turn violent, instead of a “softly, softly” approach where arrests are made afterwards.
“As security minister, I constantly had to encourage the police to make arrests on the day as crimes were being committed rather than waiting until after the protest had finished,” he said.
“Once people had crossed the line they needed to be met with immediate and uncompromising force.”
He also ruled out making a deal with Reform UK if he became Tory leader, simply replying “yes” to whether he would.
Asked if he would allow Reform UK leader Nigel Farage into the Conservatives, he said: “No.”
Mr Tugendhat, who has been an MP since 2010, won his Tonbridge seat with an 11,166 majority in July.
The former soldier is one of six contenders for the Tory leadership, along with James Cleverly, Dame Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch and Mel Stride.
This is his second attempt, having stood to become leader in 2022 but was eliminated in the third round of voting by MPs.