Musk’s comments on Labour minister Phillips were ‘reprehensible’ – Swinney
The First Minister also suggested rules about foreign donations to UK political should be tightened.
Elon Musk’s comments about Jess Phillips were “reprehensible”, John Swinney has said, as he suggested rules about foreign donations to UK political parties should be tightened.
The First Minister also criticised the tech billionaire for offering “glib” populist solutions to society’s issues after Mr Musk weighed in on UK politics in recent days.
In his first significant speech of the new year, the SNP leader urged other parties to back his government’s Budget deal in order to prevent “real damage” being done to Scotland’s NHS.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, he was asked about the recent comments from the Tesla and SpaceX owner on child grooming gangs in the UK.
The billionaire, who is a key figure in the incoming Donald Trump administration, claimed UK safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and called her a “rape genocide apologist”.
These remarks have been strongly criticised by Labour figures including the Prime Minister, who said “a line has been crossed”.
Much of Mr Swinney’s speech in Edinburgh discussed how populism can thrive if politicians fail – as he warned of a “catastrophic reduction in service delivery” if Holyrood fails to pass the Government’s budget for the coming year.
The First Minister was asked how he planned on dealing with Mr Musk’s role in the incoming Trump administration, given the billionaire has also clashed with his predecessor Humza Yousaf online.
Mr Swinney said: “The whole theme of my speech today is about the importance of addressing issues that are relevant in people’s lives today and to provide the solutions.
“Those solutions are not always straightforward and they’re certainly not as glib as populists like Elon Musk would suggest they are.”
Mr Swinney also said there should be no external interference in Scottish politics “whether it comes from London or the United States or Russia or anywhere else”.
Later, the First Minister said he wanted to examine the rules around foreign donations on a cross-party basis.
There has been speculation Mr Musk would seek to make a multi-million pound donation to Reform UK, though more recently its leader Nigel Farage has fallen out of the billionaire’s favour.
Mr Swinney said: “My view of the world today is that our electoral law prevents international or external donations – I’ve read enough over the course of the last few weeks that makes me think ‘I wonder how robust that actually is'”.
He also said: “What I heard and saw being said about Jess Phillips I thought was completely and utterly reprehensible.”
Responding to the First Minister’s speech, Reform UK’s Scottish spokesman Martyn Greene said: “The SNP’s failure to address Scotland’s real issues—underfunded services, a bloated public sector and a stagnant economy—is precisely what fuels public disillusionment.
“Populism doesn’t thrive in a vacuum. It grows when governments fail, and that’s exactly what the SNP has done for years.”
