Ian Sollom MP backs Liberal Democrat call to block Tesla contracts after Elon Musk comments

Ian Sollom MP has backed Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey’s call for the Prime Minister to rule out any future contracts the Government could have with Tesla after Elon Musk told protesters to “fight back or die” and that “violence is coming” at a far-right rally this weekend.

It comes after Ed Davey wrote to Keir Starmer, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch calling on them to publicly condemn Musk’s comments. Speaking at the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march organised by far-right hate preacher Tommy Robinson, Musk told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”.

Contracts have been awarded to Tesla in recent years according to the Government’s contracts finder website. Recent examples of the Government purchasing Tesla cars includes use as traffic officer cars for National Highways.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling on the Government to step in and block Tesla’s application for an energy licence in the UK following Musk’s remarks.

Ian Sollom said:

“We must not allow Musk to be rewarded with taxpayer money for comments which clearly celebrate violence on the streets of the UK. With businesses up and down the country already struggling to stay afloat, it is a kick in the teeth for contracts to be given to overseas players of such a character. Ministers should make clear that if you are encouraging violence on our streets, you are not someone we can do business with.”