Politics latest: Poll reveals who public blame for riots - and despite Elon Musk's criticism, it's not the PM (2024)

We're bringing the Politics Hub to a close for the evening.

There's still no word from Downing Street on the details of tonight's emergency COBRA meeting, but once word reaches us we'll bring it to you via our dedicated live blog on the riots.

You can find that below:

The Politics Hub will be back up and running from around 6am tomorrow.

Have a good evening.

By Tom Clarke, science and technology editor

"We feel very proud, very excited to have you," said Rishi Sunak as he introduced Elon Musk in London last November.

Now his successor, Keir Starmer, must wish Musk would just go away.

While the government knows the very unhelpful views of a private individual would best be ignored, when that individual has 193 million followers on a social media platform they own, that isn't going to work.

Musk's promotion of far right cause

Musk is well known for controversial posts on X, the platform he owns, but this is something different.

He appears to be on a mission, criticising the causes and policing of the ongoing riots, and getting personal, too.

He's used the hashtag #2tierkeir in reference to right-wing criticism of alleged two-tier policing, and interacted with far-right activists like Tommy Robinson - handing the former EDL leader a level of profile he could only have dreamed of at a pivotal moment.

And it's not just the UK in his sights…

But Musk isn't just trolling the UK government - having come out in support for Donald Trump's re-election bid, he's also ramped up his opinions about US politics and criticism of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Are we simply seeing a rightward slide in Musk's politics?

There's more to it than that. Legislation like the UK's Online Harms Act, the EU's equivalent, and efforts to pass the same in the US, could threaten his social media business.

The balance of power is shifting

That meeting between Sunak and Musk confirmed something that should trouble all democracies: the balance of global power has shifted.

Musk – or his business interests in AI and building gigafactories for electric car batteries – was seen as a solution to some of the UK's woes.

He has wealth rivalling that of smaller nation states, giving him privilege and power akin to world leaders.

But he's not bound by the same rules - and he knows it.

No longer seen as a solution to our needs, he's now a massive problem.

Nigel Farage, who has been accused of contributing to the ongoing riots through his initial response to the Southport attack which sparked them, has been defending himself this evening.

The day after the stabbings last Monday, he posted a video on social media suggesting police might be hiding things from the public.

That was amid rampant, false, online speculation the suspect was a Muslim migrant who had arrived on a small boat.

We later found out he was Cardiff-born teenager Axel Rudakubana.

Farage told LBC radio earlier: "I asked a very simple question: was this person known [to the security services] or not?"

The Clacton MP denied having fallen for false claims about the suspect, saying he "didn't believe any of it".

Farage accuses PM of 'misreading' crisis

In another video later posted on X, Mr Farage said it had been an "appalling" few days and described rioters as "thugs".

But he also accused the prime minister of having "misread" the crisis by calling out the actions of the far right - and repeated his accusations of two-tier policing that have been denied by top cops and the PM himself.

The Reform leader referred to the actions of Muslim counter-protesters who surrounded a Sky News crew in Birmingham yesterday, including a masked man wielding a knife who stabbed the tyre of their van.

Watch Sky News van being attacked:

He also criticised the policing of previous Black Lives Matter protests, singling out the Whitehall statue of Winston Churchill "being defaced" and the Cenotaph "being abused".

It's worth noting the Churchill statue was pelted by flares during a far right rally in the capital last Wednesday - and some protesters were also seen doing Nazi salutes at the Cenotaph.

This evening's emergency COBRA meeting about the riots has ended.

It was the second such gathering in as many days, again chaired by the prime minister as the government looks to get a grip on the crisis.

Ministers, police chiefs and other personnel involved have started departing and we should be getting an update on what was discussed a little later this evening.

The prime minister has warned anyone whipping up violence online will face the full force of the law.

But how does what is said online translate to violence in the streets?

Sky News'sdata and forensics correspondentTom Cheshire has been looking at the evidence.

The home secretary has told police any extra cash needed to deal with the riots will be supported by the government.

Yvette Cooper said the police have her "unwavering commitment" to do what's necessary to stop the "appalling displays of violence" we've seen.

Additional costs, including overtime pay for officers, will come via an existing Home Office grant scheme - similar to how forces adapted to the 2011 riots, when more personnel had to be deployed.

For the current disorder, forces have been told there are thousands of specially-trained riot officers on standby to be deployed wherever they are needed across the country.

The government was keen to avoid being "dragged into" a war of words with billionaire Elon Musk, but it's proved impossible.

His "incendiary tweets" about Sir Keir Starmer and the policing of riots gripping the UK have required a response, says our political correspondent Darren McCaffrey, with his assertion the UK was heading for "civil war" causing particular "angst" among ministers.

Darren notes it's somewhat bizarre how committed Musk seems to "taunt" the prime minister on his social media platform X.

But it will no doubt play into the "retrospective" on the riots when they eventually end, as the government will want to look into the role social media has potentially played in "inflaming tensions".

That's "clearly something the government will be looking at in the weeks and months to come", Darren adds.

We've just been hearing from one of the last parliament's lead voices on social media moderation about the role those companies are playing in the ongoing UK-wide riots.

Damian Collins is a former technology minister and ex-chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which has in the past grilled tech executives about harmful content on their platforms.

"Big tech companies have their own platform policies against hatred and inciting violence, but we didn't feel they were enforced properly," the Conservative told Sky News.

"That's what we've seen over the last few days."

The Online Safety Act

One of the biggest pieces of legislation passed by the last government was the Online Safety Act, which gives media regulator Ofcom power to hold companies like Meta and X to account.

It lists specific offences in law, as well as a legal liability for firms to uphold their own content rules.

Mainstream platforms claim to be against things like inciting racial hatred and violence, but such content is often allowed to spread - as we've seen since the Southport attack last week.

Mr Collins said legislation to enforce those rules was needed because "we can't trust people" like X owner Elon Musk "to make decisions".

Platforms like X 'need to be held to account'

"This is not just about freedom of speech," he said.

"Platforms like X are profiling their users and driving content they say is 'for you' to them, and in many cases that could be radicalising people, that could be extremist, and driving people to take part in violent acts.

"That company has taken a business decision to do that and needs to be held to account for it."

The Online Safety Act is yet to be fully implemented however, as Ofcom carries out a planned consultation on its new powers.

Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed news that children injured in the Southport knife attack last week have been discharged from hospital.

Three girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, and Alice da Silva Aguiar - were killed during the stabbings, while eight other children and two adults were seriously injured.

Starmer thanks hospital staff

Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool said all the children in its care had now gone home, which the PM said was "very welcome news".

"Thank you to the staff at Alder Hey and all the frontline workers who have worked tirelessly to help those affected by the horrific tragedy in Southport last week," he said in a post on X.

"My thoughts remain with the grieving families during this terrible time."

It's time for the Politics Hub's evening bulletin.

Here are the main things you need to know:

• The prime minister will chair another emergency COBRA meeting this evening ahead of more far right rallies across the UK;
• Sir Keir Starmer will lead the gathering of his top ministers, police chiefs, and security bosses ahead of what our political correspondent Tamara Cohen says would be a "critical 24 hours" in the riots crisis;
• That's because police have said they are aware of at least 30 rallies being planned for Wednesday evening;
• As you'd expect, polling from YouGov today shows the vast majority of the public are wholly opposed to the unrest we've seen - with the finger of blame chiefly pointed towards the far right, social media, immigration policy, Tommy Robinson, and previous Tory governments.

• If you're looking for live updates on the riots themselves, you can head to our dedicated live blog via the link above;
• Key updates so far today include Elon Musk continuing to peddle far right arguments regarding the riots and UK policing, as London's Met vows to use "every power, tactic, and tool" to tackle "thuggish" behaviour.

• In a few other bits of political news, the government is repealing a Tory law that would have limited the ability of unions to strike;
• The government has welcomed a record £168m fine for water companies over the sewage scandal;
• And Wales has selected its first female first minister, as Eluned Morgan replaces the short-lived Vaughan Gething in the job.

That's all for now - we'll bring you updates from tonight's COBRA meeting whenever we find out more.