Agenda Creep: a deep dive into elon musk and The British right wing
AUTHOR: William Collinson
PUBLISHED: JUNE 14, 2026
15 MIN READ
On Friday 12th of June, Elon Musk became the world's first ever trillionaire, following the record stock market debut of his SpaceX rocket company. Meanwhile, far removed from SpaceX’s headquarters in Starbase Texas, Belfast reels from what the leader of the nationalist SDLP, Claire Hanna, has called a “race-based pogrom” where cars were set alight, doors kicked down and homes torched forcing families to flee. This contrast highlights one of the great challenges facing British democracy today; the link between social media demagogues and far right violence and thuggery. Furthermore this example highlights an unhealthy tendency for British politics to import politics of division and hatred from the United States.
What We Take From American Politics
Britons' oversized interest in American politics is something of an unrequited love. Indeed, US presidential elections receive around-the-clock coverage from the BBC and key figures are well known. I wager few members of the American public could identify Rachel Reeves or, say Rupert Lowe despite the support he enjoys from America’s richest man. Does this explain why Britain tends to import divisive aspects of its political agenda from the US? An excessive interest in American affairs perhaps does fit the bill. Yet the impact of social media in spreading zero-sum politics cannot be understated.
There are two key contemporary examples of this; culture war politics and the ascendency of the populist right political parties. Dealing with the former, as it is less relevant to this article, debates on woke, transgender rights and race were shaped by American discourse. Protests spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter movement spread from US cities to the UK in spring 2020, ignited by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police.
This seismic political event in the US spread to the UK rapidly, highlighting the ease with which powerful political ideas can be imported into Britain. Now, dealing with the more relevant latter, the rise of anti-system populist politics in the UK does not totally stem from the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Indeed, the ultimate signal of the power of anti-establishment politics in the UK, Brexit, occurred before Donald Trump entered the White House in early 2017. However, since this moment, the far right in the UK has been obsessed with the functioning of Trump’s America with Reform – and to lesser success Restore – emulating aspects of Trumpian politics. Once more, linking back to the impact of the culture wars, national identity, immigration, scepticism of bureaucracy and an attempt to relate to the left behind are all themes of Britains populist right. These have been shaped to fit the British case, yet the theme of agenda creep is clear.
Perhaps proposals from Reform's Zia Yusuf to create a new agency titled the ‘UK Deportation Command', with powers to deport 280,000 annually, best touch on the theme that previously taboo political ideas have grown increasingly mainstream. Calls for a nationwide, aggressive mass-deportation scheme decades ago would have led to widespread condemnation; now it is treated as just another acceptable, mainstream political opinion. The notion of a British mass-deportation agency in the style of ICE was once unthinkable; now it is perhaps a 5% swing in the polls away.
The dangers the UK faces through the importation of American political agendas is strikingly clear. This article will now examine the impact of Musk, his site X (formerly Twitter) and connections to Britain's far right. This must be addressed if our core values, social cohesion and especially our less polarised politics is to survive and flourish.
“Yet our research shows that he (Musk) used the Belfast tragedy to amplify anti-migrant narratives to millions of users, prompting endless calls for violence. While communities dealt with the consequences of brutality and disorder, no individual played a bigger role in spreading this content on X than Musk himself."
Imran Ahmed CEO of CCDH.
Image: GETTYIMAGES
Musk's Footprints in Belfast, Southampton and Southport
On Monday 8th of June, a horrific knife attack perpetrated by a Sudanese refugee was caught on video, leaving a man in his 40s with serious, life-changing injuries. Within hours, advertisements of protest locations were spread online, forcing Belfast to shut down in face of the threat of disorder. What followed was a violent, intimidatory protest throughout Northern Ireland where foreigners were targeted. Masked men and boys dressed all in black terrorised Belfast’s streets; in an extraordinary circumstance a car was set alight, a white resident came out to claim it, and the apologetic men moved on once seeing the car owners' race (6:16 of Newsagents Podcast Referenced). Foreign families were the clear target, making this incident a stark example of the type of politics our nation is drifting towards.
Perhaps this event seems a more visceral example of the politics of rage peddled by Musk, by Nigel Farage, by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) and by Lowe due to the organising element provided by loyalist paramilitaries, or due to Belfast’s history of civil unrest. Social media platforms, largely X, were used to stoke anger by far-right agitators and politicians and greatly contributed to the outburst of violence seen in Belfast on the 9th of June. Yaxley-Lennon (Robinson) called for nationwide protest following “another invader attack on our people”, augmented by Musk who posted in reply that “only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change”. Following on from this, Lowe suggested that “the barbarians are already inside the gates”, an example of the way in which non-white communities are repeatedly portrayed on platforms such as X, as homogeneously barbaric, and as ‘invaders’ or ‘aliens’. The horrific actions of one individual were branded across an entire community, and a riot based on intolerance of ethnic-minorities resembling a racial pogrom was set in motion.
Britain has certainly been heading in this direction, and the blame can be justly placed at the door of online agitators and politicians – or social media demagogues - that infuse hatred through platforms such as X. Another example is the way Farage called for “pure cold rage” following the murder of the student Henry Novak, and then ludicrously defended his actions by highlighting that he did not call for “hot” rage. This pattern of right-wing politicians egging on rioters, and ducking accusations of incitement of violence is disturbing and dangerous, and points to the escalation of violence. Opponents of these social media demagogues must be stronger in calling this out and highlighting such contradictions to the electorate.
Vicious Algorithms
While politicians and agitators peddle violence, divisive algorithms baked into social media platforms equally play their part. The term ‘echo-chamber’ is often used incorrectly; Jamieson and Capella define the term as a “bounded, enclosed media space that has the potential to magnify the messages delivered within it and insulate them from rebuttal” (Echo Chamber: 2008, p76). In fact, only 7% of UK citizens are estimated to be within echo-chambers, as although algorithms direct users towards like-minded communities and accounts, due to the vast supply of media it is unlikely that individuals do not come across non-partisan media from say the BBC or Sky News (Reuters Institute).
Yet these echo-chambers are still significant. Even those not wrapped up in technically defined echo-chambers can still feel the effect of the creation of online communities, where those with similar beliefs band together and lack contact with the ‘other side’. This is how extreme politics can take root; like-minded people grouping together, and upon hearing similar notions to their own - and importantly hearing little rebuttal - become bolder and more confident in their own perception and worldview. Extremist ideas on mass deportation, white-supremacy, Britain’s Equality Act 2010 or capital punishment bounce around an echo-chamber, or an online political community, and users grow convinced that their extremist views are more mainstream, more popular and more politically and socially acceptable than they are in real society. This is dangerous and highlights the need for constant open debate. In his influential book On Liberty, John Stuart Mill declares ideas should always be open to rational challenge to refine our understanding and avoid dead dogma*. This is particularly salient here; progressives should argue for commonly held concepts - such as the case against aggressive mass-deportation – to remind society of the dangerous and unjust alternatives to long-established principles. Britain's progressives have been losing the debate, and need to invigorate arguments on key values progressives have long considered won.
This suggests why politics in the UK is growing more extreme, with Lowe’s calls for mass-deportation and the return of capital punishment rising perhaps from an international, online community that appear louder, more populous and powerful to members than they actually are, through the lens of social media. Only attention grabbing, shocking policy proposals can cut through media noise on platforms such as X, perhaps indicating a more radical future for British politics. What we are seeing now in Belfast, in Southampton following Henry Novak’s murder and in Southport in 2024 is the spillover from the social media-based politics of hatred onto Britains streets. It must be stopped.
* Dead dogma, as defined by J.S. Mill, is where a true idea is no longer debated, and so people lose understanding of it and forget its significance. Even if (especially if) you hold a concept to be unequivocally true, you must review it rationally to ensure you do not believe it out of habit, and to ensure you understand the arguments behind it.
Does This Push Britain Further Right?
With the normalisation of previously taboo issues such as mass-deportation and capital punishment, it could be strongly argued that Britain's political spectrum is shifting further to the right. Whatever you attribute this to – be it social media and the influence of outside actors, declining trust in institutions or immigration – it is evident. Farage once cringed at the prospect of mass-deportations, thinking it electoral dynamite for the 2024 general election, yet now it is central to Reform's plan to tackle immigration and asylum. This can be seen with Reform's pledge to establish the ‘UK deportation Command’. Lowe claims to want to put “murderous third-world savages to death”, tapping into an imperial worldview of civilisation and barbarism. These high-profile British politicians advocate for far more extreme policy than they could have in the past and are rewarded by social media's algorithm, favouring radicalism over nuance. Equally, this is pulling centrist parties to the right, to occupy spaces they previously would not. Take Sir Kier Starmer's ‘Island of Strangers’ speech in May 2025, for instance; those voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party in 2019 would be shocked to see a Labour Prime Minister, six years later, echo Enoch Powell on immigration, yet this is the political landscape we now live in. Starmer has since said he regrets the use of the phrase, yet the point remains.
Indeed Musk – who backed Farage before a row pushed him to support Lowe’s Restore party – who funds and provides the platform on which these sentiments thrive, caused global concern when he performed a ‘Roman salute' on stage in 2025. This incident is often forgotten or overlooked, yet it is a perfect justification and avenue of attack for those opposing these developments to combat Musk and his malign influence. Starmer has just provided an example of how not to approach this issue as a progressive politician. The justification behind the UK governmental response to this is ironclad. An AI tool created by Musk, a tech trillionaire with a tendency to allow accidental ‘Roman salutes’ (oops), supporting far right populist parties globally, financially and through his platform X, that is used without effective blocking mechanisms to create sexually explicit, nonconsensual images of unsuspecting women, often impacting children both through exposure and through vile image creation should clearly be strongly opposed.
Yet all Starmer could manage was a threat of action. If dangerous elements like this are to be combatted, strong action must be taken, not threatened. If the aforementioned exhaustive list of reasons why Grok should be hit are not enough to inspire action, nothing is. Make no mistake, the ‘ultimatum’ to reform the platform will have no effect; when has any change been forced upon a transnational corporation until it becomes profitable to do so. This is something that a future progressive prime minister, be it Andy Burnham or anyone else, must take on board. It is never enough to simply condemn. You cannot change companies such as X by politely requesting, it must be made greatly unprofitable for them not to adhere to demands.
Image: GETTYIMAGES
'Pocket-Sized Narratives'
Social media provides a perfect platform for populism, and for malign figures to influence politics on a global level to suit their needs. Franklin D. Roosevelt first realised the transformative potential radio had for shaping the political narrative with his transformative Fire-Side Chats. The power of a device able to spread political messages directly to the home was recognised; nearly a century later in the UK, the new political power of the device in most voters' pockets has been most effectively utilised by Farage. Indeed, Farage has mobilised this tool to great electoral success at the local council elections in spring 2026, and looks set to rely on his mastery of this new modality until he reaches No.10. He equally has used it to stoke civil unrest, prompting issues that Reform champion, to become central to the political debate in Britain.
Opposing politicians must grasp this tool to the same effect. They must be an effective communicator through social media; to establish a Pocket-Sized Narrative. They must establish a powerful political concept to mobilise Britain’s divided progressive political population and win arguments on important debates such as mass-deportation and The Equalities Act 2010 – arguments that any progressive should be confident and passionate to make. Musk’s influence is rooted deep, and if Britain is to refuse the ticket of a politics like we see in America, that influence must be diminished. That starts with curbs on Grok, a serious debate on how to manage X and the banning of foreign funding of UK parties and politicians.
References:
Dr Amy Ross Arguedas, Dr Craig T. Robertson, Dr Richard Fletcher, Prof. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, 'Echo chambers, filter bubbles, and polarisation: a literature review', Reuters Institute For the Study of Journalism (19th January 2022): https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/echo-chambers-filter-bubbles-and-polarisation-literature-review.
Bryony Gooch, 'Elon Musk accused of amplifying anti-migrant content to more than 60 million on X amid Belfast disorder' in The Independent (Friday 12th June 2026): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/elon-musk-x-belfast-disorder-b2994833.html.
Jessica Elgot, 'Reform would create ICE-style agency and end leave to remain, Zia Yusuf to say', The Guardian (22nd February 2026): https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/22/reform-uk-ice-style-agency-end-leave-to-remain-zia-yusuf.
Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, Lewis Goodall and Andy Hughes, 'Special Report: Belfast riots - how Elon Musk is stoking a new wave of British violence' - specifically chapters 'Unpacking the Knife Attack and its Immediate Repercussions' and 'Eyewitness Account: Chaos and Lawlessness on Belfast Streets' in The News Agents Podcast (10th June 2026): https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/episodes/7Drzpgd/.
Emmet McElhatton, Abigail Taylorand and Hayley Halpin, 'Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after 'brutal' knife attack in Belfast', BBC News Northern Ireland (9th June 2026): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdejnjdg08eo.
'Is the US really an ally of Britain and Europe?' YouGov (10th March 2025): https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/51765-is-the-us-an-ally-of-britain-and-europe?
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Echo Chambers (Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2008).