Despite not inviting Elon Musk to a significant investment summit, a Labour minister has indicated that the UK wants to collaborate on investment deals with him.
Presenter Nick Robinson of the BBC questioned Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle seven times over whether the founder of Tesla was invited to the global investment summit. The Labour minister clarified that Mr. Musk did not have an investment program and seemed to acknowledge he was not invited. Previous reports said the tech billionaire was passed over for the job as he made remarks about Keir Starmer during the summer riots.
Mr. Kyle maintained that this was not the case and that if Mr. Musk had wanted to “open up an investment programme,” he would have been “very, very welcome” at the global business summit in the UK. By stating that the government “focused on global companies who already have announced global investment programmes” and that Mr. Musk “doesn’t tend to do these sort of events,” he seemed to confirm that the government had not sent an invitation to him.
The global investment forum in the UK did not extend an invitation to Elon Musk. (Image: AFP via Getty Images))
He said on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, “Elon Musk would have been very, very welcome if he had an open investment programme that we could have latched onto.” “We’d be delighted to talk to Elon Musk. We will be first in queue if he launches an investment program and there is international competition for it; in fact, I will be first in queue knocking on his door to try to obtain that investment here.”
Downing Street chastised Mr. Musk for remarks he made on social media over the July riots, referring to the Prime Minister as “two-tier Keir” and asserting that civil war was “inevitable” in Britain. When asked if the X owner’s decision to skip the event was a result of the comment, Mr. Kyle responded to Sky News with a resounding “no.” Our Prime Minister puts the country first, party second. He has declared on multiple occasions, “We want to ensure that people from all over the world are aware that our government is welcoming to business.”
