UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has stated that Tesla, led by Elon Musk, would be welcomed to invest in the UK, despite a recent controversy involving the tech billionaire. Starmer clarified his stance after reports emerged that Musk had not been invited to the UK’s upcoming International Investment Summit due to his social media activity during last month’s riots.
Speaking to the BBC, Starmer emphasized his openness to international investment. “Obviously, I encourage investment from anywhere,” he said, underscoring his commitment to fostering economic growth in the UK. “Good investment into the UK is what I’m very, very keen to promote,” he added.
Starmer made these comments during a visit to New York, where he addressed the United Nations and met with US business leaders, including former President Donald Trump. During his trip, Starmer also hosted investment discussions, signaling his determination to attract foreign investment. “Every time I’m abroad, we do these investment breakfasts because I’m absolutely determined to get the investment we need,” he said.
The upcoming International Investment Summit is seen as a pivotal event for the UK, with the government aiming to secure billions in foreign funding from global investors. While Musk was invited to last year’s summit but did not attend, he played a prominent role in November’s AI Summit, where he participated in a discussion with former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, now the Shadow Chancellor, described Musk’s absence from this year’s summit as a “big loss.” Hunt revealed that Musk had previously expressed interest in building a new car plant in Europe, with the UK being considered as a potential location.
Musk, however, reacted strongly on social media following reports that he was not invited to the summit. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he criticized the UK’s handling of recent unrest, accusing the government of prioritizing the release of convicted pedophiles over those imprisoned for social media posts.
During the August riots, Musk made a series of inflammatory posts predicting civil war in the UK and attacking the Prime Minister. He also shared, and later deleted, a conspiracy theory about the UK allegedly constructing “detainment camps” on the Falkland Islands for rioters, a claim widely condemned by UK ministers as “totally unjustifiable” and “deplorable.”
