Tech Secretary ‘absolutely ready’ to engage with Elon Musk

The Tech Secretary has said he stands “absolutely ready to engage” with Elon Musk after it was reported the Tesla chief was not invited to Monday’s international investment summit.

Peter Kyle told Times Radio that Mr Musk “doesn’t tend to do these sort of events”, after previous reports that the tech boss had been snubbed as a result of his social media posts during this summer’s riots.

The Government is expected to unveil billions in deals in areas such as AI and life sciences at the summit in London.

Asked whether the Government should have invited the X owner, Mr Kyle told the station: “Let me just send my very best to him on the safe landing of the booster rocket yesterday, it was a stunning achievement and I did watch slack-jawed at the staggering achievement that that represented.

“Elon Musk has never come to any of the past investment summits that have been held under the previous government, he doesn’t tend to do these sort of events, but I stand absolutely ready to engage with him, to talk about any potential global investments he’s making – I’m not aware of any at this moment in time.”

Mr Kyle also denied that Mr Musk had been snubbed from the event. Asked on Sky News whether the tycoon’s absence from the event was because he had called Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “two-tier Keir”, Mr Kyle said: ““Absolutely not. Our Prime Minister puts the country first, party second.

“He has said numerous times, we want to make sure that people from around the world understand we are a Government that is open for business.”

It was reported in September by the BBC that the Tesla and SpaceX boss had not been invited to the summit because of his social media posts during the summer riots.

After three children were killed in a stabbing attack in Southport and violence erupted across the UK, X owner Mr Musk posted on his platform promoting false claims, suggesting that a civil war in the UK was “inevitable” and attacking the Prime Minister.

After the reports, Mr Musk posted: “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted paedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.”

His claim about the UK releasing prisoners came after 1,700 inmates were released early from their sentences in the first phase of the Government’s plan to tackle jail overcrowding. Sex offenders are excluded from the policy.

Sir Keir will pledge to get rid of regulation that “needlessly holds back investment” at the conference on Monday.

The Government says that international investment will help with its goals to create jobs, improve living standards, and make communities and families across the country better off.

In a keynote speech at the summit, Sir Keir is expected to pitch Britain as a stable bet for investors, saying he will “do everything in my power to galvanise growth including getting rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment”.

He will say: “We have a golden opportunity to use our mandate, to end chop and change, policy churn and sticking plasters that make it so hard for investors to assess the value of any proposition.

“We have the determination, the focus on clear long-term ends, a mission-led mindset that thinks in years, not the days or hours of the news grid, needed to unlock that potential. Do not doubt that.”