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We need to talk about one of the most important political players in British politics in 2026
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No, I'm not talking about the Prime Minister. There'll be plenty of time for that this week
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Not a Cabinet Minister, not even a Mayor of a great conurbation
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No, I'm talking about a political player with huge power over British politics
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for whom not a single vote has ever been cast, nor ever will be
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Yes, we need to talk about Elon Musk. As of this week, the world's first trillionaire
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We'll return to his wealth in a moment. But this week has been yet another week where we've seen his remarkable direct influence
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his power over British political life, rivaling the great press barons of the past
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Rothermere, Beaverbrook, yes, even Rupert Murdoch. No sooner had the appalling violent attack in Belfast come to our attention
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But Elon was wading in, mainly by amplifying the voices of the far right
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something through his algorithmic changes on X and changes to their content and moderation policy he has done repeatedly
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Indeed, he has been more successful in amplifying and legitimising far right ideology and thinking than any figure I can think of in British political history
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I was reporting in Belfast this week. I saw for myself the results of what one politician described to me as a pogrom on the streets of a British city
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The far right literally going door to door, trying to burn out brown and black people from their homes
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In some cases, those families needed to flee with babes in arms, sheltering in the homes of neighbours or local officials
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One study this week showed that he actively garnered more than 115 million views across accounts
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amplifying far-right messaging, with Musk accounting for 55% of the total. Musk's amplification, his report says, has been instrumental
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They've said in their report, the CCDH, as the owner of X and its most followed user
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Musk has unparalleled power to shape what people see online. With that power comes responsibility for the content and conduct his platform promotes
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Don't get me wrong. Musk has great responsibility for stirring the pot, but there is a pot to stir
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The state, under successive governments, has been seen to lose control of our borders
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Too often mainstream politicians have dismissed or ignored legitimate concerns about asylum hotels or changes in communities and yes crime committed by new arrivals That has allowed the far right to eat up to occupy that space especially online
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But Musk doesn't seek to calm any of this. He accelerates it. He makes it worse
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He doesn't wait. He doesn't care. He simply acts on the reflexes of his own prejudices and those of his political allies
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He's spread conspiracies, which have meant that an MP now needs round-the-clock security protection
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He's called for the violent overthrow of our government. He tells us civil war is coming and wouldn't seem to mind if it did
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And then there is his wealth. At a trillion dollars, Musk's fortune would amount to roughly 3% of the entire US economy
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That's bigger relative to GDP than Rockefeller or Carnegie at the height of the Gilded Age a century ago
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The greatest, the greatest concentration of personal wealth in any modern democratic capitalist state
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And unlike the old robber barons, Musk doesn't merely influence politics from afar
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He owns one of the most powerful communications platforms in the world
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He controls satellite infrastructure through SpaceX. He influences defence and security debates
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He intervenes directly in elections and political arguments across the Western world
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often in real time, often impulsively, often with little or no regard for the consequences
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That combination of vast wealth, algorithmic control, content control, celebrity and political activism
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could give him a form of power even the great press barons or robber barons could scarcely have imagined
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And with power like that comes responsibility. Can any of us honestly say that Elon Musk is showing any of it
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A question as old as the hills. Can you have democracy and oligarchy at the same time
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Well, Dr. Anne Kaplan Mulholland is herself a multimillionaire, not trillionaire, not yet at least, entrepreneur, also media personality
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I see here a castle owner as well. So, Dr. Mulholland, thanks so much for joining us this morning
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Should we be worried that Elon Musk is a trillionaire? I would be very worried that he's a trillionaire. Absolutely, you should be worried. He is the wrong person to be in that position to be a trillionaire. Now, I'm all for wealth. I'm all for people creating wealth. But Elon Musk is not the right person to be in that position. He is for deregulation. He has stolen data. I would say stolen because he's figured out with Trump how to get all the data from the U.S
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And so all of this stuff that happened with Doge, that was Elon Musk behind it
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He has data he housing it in Tennessee and do you want someone with that much money and that much control that controls half of the stock market our wealth everything that invested in the US I do not want to see that person with that kind of money
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I want to see wealth. I want to see wealth creation, but not Elon Musk
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What do you say to the argument? Of course, this will be an argument I'm sure you would subscribe to in general terms
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I mean, I've seen this a lot online over the last few days, which is to say, well, that wealth, even if it is very concentrated to him, begets extraordinary wealth for others
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and income for others. He obviously employs a huge number of people. He's very innovative. No one can
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deny that. He's clearly a key part of the world's technological infrastructure at this point
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that therefore, given that he's so unique, a unique amount of money and wealth will almost
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inevitably accrue to him. Do you want to see all of the wealth in the hands of someone like that
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that has that much control? Now, at one point, I sort of like Elon Musk, but when he started
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giving Trump money to win the election, I stepped back and said, no, this is not right
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It's not right. And then when he stepped in and traded it to get the data and deregulate
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then I find that is not correct. We need regulation. And I'm all for that. I'm all
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for making money. I'm all for wealth creation. But we do need regulation to protect people
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I suppose the question for him now is the extent to which he can be regulated. He's so wealthy
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He has about three and a half percent of total U.S. GDP. He's wealthier than some countries
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His network, Starlink, it's embedded in U.S. defense, European defense. I mean, we're getting to the point, aren't we
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We can see as well with his activity on X, he's almost beyond regulation of certain states
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That's how it feels, which is a dangerous moment. Yes, it is a dangerous moment
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And he is beyond regulation. And that is really the fault of the U.S. for doing that, for allowing that to happen
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He would not be in this position if it wasn't for that election and for deregulation
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and I'm not pro that. And as much as I want to see people make money, I'm in AI myself
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It is not something that I'm against, but I'm against how you get there. And yes
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a lot of people have made money, but there's a lot of people that are stepped back that are not
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going to make money off this. So a few at the top, the wealthy are going to get wealthier
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but the poor will not. Should you mention about being in AI yourself? There's another bit of AI
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related news unrelated to Elon Musk yesterday, but instead one of his competitors, Anthropic
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They've withdrawn as a result of U.S. federal action. They've withdrawn their most advanced systems
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Basically means that foreign countries, particularly people in foreign countries, won't be able to use it
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Is that something we should be worried about? I would be worried about anything that what is behind it is what we don't know
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or why someone is withdrawing, what the true reason is, or is there pressure coming from another competitor
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Well in this case it because the U federal government say that this system is especially dangerous and they worried about it falling into the wrong hands internationally So when Elon Musk was being pro for the deregulation the U government said that they would only regulate in national security
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So they took away regulation behind AI, except for when it came to national security
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And there is no actual submission that has to be made. They have an opportunity to submit to see whether something is against, is at risk for national security
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So there's something else behind that, I would say. And the government is mostly into open AI
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That's their biggest investor. How well placed do you think Britain is, Britain right now, over the next few years, is to actually weather the economic storms that are ahead
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I mean, you're someone who I'm sure is very familiar with the international business environment
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when you talk to some of your colleagues investors and so on what are they saying about britain
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i would say most people are not very pro britain and for me for me investing in ai companies and
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i am as you know i'm a doctorate in writing algorithms i'm a harvard ai specialist i'm
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investing in ai companies i would not invest in britain any wealth that is created the money is
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going to go where it's going to go back to the government we can't keep on investing and then
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anyone who I hire, they are at risk of having overtaxed. So it's very difficult to invest in
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Britain. And I would say most people would say it is. You still get to retain quite a lot of the
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wealth. Capital gains tax is taxed at a lower level of income. Yes, of course, we've got a
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relatively high tax take at the moment. But in terms of compared to some other countries
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it's not as high as all that. Is it really the case that we're in a position where you feel that
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the wealth you create all goes back to the government? It's that we're double taxed
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And this is a different story than Elon Musk, but you're double taxed to invest in the UK, which I love the UK, but to invest in there as a non-domicile resident of the UK, which I was, to invest in the UK, you are double taxed
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You're taxed on worldwide income. And when you have multiple companies worldwide, there's a risk that you're going to be double taxed, paying in one country and paying in another country
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Are you thinking about leaving? I did leave. I left. I have left
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and I did not want to. I left kicking and screaming. I did not want to go
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So I left. Do you still have your castle in Kent? Oh yes, absolutely. Still have the castle. I employ 100 people and that's because
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I had really started to employ them and felt that I did not want to take people's jobs away
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Otherwise I wouldn't have. I care about the people that stood behind me. When I bought the castle
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when I created the hotel, the restaurants, I don't want them to lose their jobs
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So you don't live in the UK anymore? No, I live in Italy
