Elon Musk hits out at Britain after reported summit snub

By Muvija M

LONDON (Reuters) - Elon Musk hit back at Britain on Thursday after reports that he had not been invited to the country's upcoming investment summit, alleging the government was releasing convicted paedophiles while imprisoning people over social media posts.

The BBC reported that the U.S. billionaire had not been invited to the summit next month after his posts on his X platform regarding the violent, racist anti-immigration riots in Britain last month.

Britain's Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury did not respond to requests for comment on either the BBC report or Musk's response.

"I don't think anyone should go to the UK when they're releasing convicted pedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts," Musk said on X in response to a post on the BBC report.

More than 1,700 prisoners were released early this month in an effort by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government to tackle overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales. Those serving sentences for sex offences were not included in the scheme.

The government and others criticised Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on X, for his posts on Britain in August, including one saying civil war was "inevitable", as the country was shaken by riots that saw far-right groups attack hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques.

Starmer's spokesperson said at the time there was "no justification" for such comments. Over 1,000 arrests have been made in relation to the riots, and some people have been jailed for stirring up racial hatred on social media.

The investment summit next month is set to be attended by leaders from global tech and financial groups, including BNY Mellon and Blackstone. The Labour government, in power since July, is hoping to attract investors to boost the economy.

Musk, who met French President Emmanuel Macron in May for the "Choose France" summit in Paris, was last publicly seen in London last November when he attended the AI Safety Summit and was then interviewed by former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

(Editing by Paul Sandle and Frances Kerry)