Elon Musk blasted by top minister for 'violence' warning at Tommy Robinson rally

Elon Musk has been slammed for telling a far-right rally that “violence is coming” to the UK.

The tech billionaire made the inflammatory comments at Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest on Saturday, where he also called for the dissolution of Parliament in his latest swipe at Keir Starmer's Government.

Mr Musk, who appeared by video link, ranted about the “woke mind virus” and told the crowd: "Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth.”

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: "I thought that they were slightly incomprehensible comments that were totally inappropriate. But what we saw yesterday was over 100,000 people who were expressing freedom of association, freedom of speech, and proving that both of those things are alive and well in this country.

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"A small minority of people who are protesting committed acts of violence against our police for which they should and they will be held accountable."

Mr Kyle said Robinson was stoking anger by tapping into a wider "sense of disquiet" and said the Government was working to bring communities back together.

He said: "There are communities that are being driven further apart, and there are figures such as Tommy Robinson that is able to touch into a sense of disquiet and grievance in the community in our society.

"A lot of it goes back to its roots in the financial crisis and the impact that had on communities around the country, and we haven't been able to bring our communities back together again since.

"I think these are moments that are klaxon calls to us in public life to redouble our efforts to address the big concerns that people right across our country have, and immigration is a big concern."

Between 110,000 and 150,000 people turned out, while around 5,000 anti-racism campaigners mounted a counter-protest.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood condemned violent scenes as protesters clashed with police and vowed that anyone "taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law".

Twenty-four people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured, including four who were seriously hurt, according to the Metropolitan Police.

People were arrested for a range of offences including affray, violent disorder, assault and criminal damage.

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