Chris Mason: Musk looms large over UK politics as MPs return for 2025

The caller twelvemonth successful authorities starts with the bang of a billionaire with a bigger rima than his slope balance.

Elon Musk has been lobbing astir arsenic galore integer darts implicit the Atlantic arsenic Luke Littler has the existent things successful the past mates of days.

The world's richest antheral has been sounding disconnected successful the strongest imaginable presumption astir the premier curate for astir arsenic agelong arsenic Sir Keir Starmer has been successful Downing Street.

In caller days, the absorption has been connected kid intersexual exploitation and Musk's allegation that the premier curate was "complicit successful the rape of Britain" erstwhile helium was Director of Public Prosecutions by failing to woody with the scandal.

I'm told Sir Keir "will not privation to get into a nutrient combat with Musk" but volition marque a robust defence of his clip arsenic main prosecutor.

He is besides keen to emphasise the value of governmental statement being grounded successful verifiable facts and that Musk is making claims that are "blatantly untrue" arsenic 1 root enactment it. Sources point, for instance, to those defending the Prime Minister's grounds arsenic DPP.

Those successful authorities besides constituent to the section inquiries determination person been into the maltreatment and rape of susceptible young girls by groups of men chiefly of Pakistani descent – and the nationalist enquiry conducted by Professor Alexis Jay.

The Conservatives, Reform and Elon Musk person each expressed varying degrees of outrage successful caller days that the authorities has said nary to a nationalist enquiry into the scandal.

But fewer expected this weekend's twist: that wrong hours of the Reform person Nigel Farage describing Musk arsenic a "hero" who "makes america look cool," the X proprietor said Reform needed a caller person arsenic Farage "doesn't person what it takes".

"It's not been the cleanable day," said 1 Reform fig with a splash of understatement and a smile. "We astir apt bash look a spot silly."

Farage's repeated statements distancing himself from the far-right activistic Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, look to beryllium astatine the bosom of the spat.

Reform hadn't seen this coming. Just weeks agone they were talking up the imaginable of a large wealth donation from Elon Musk – but are present trying to enactment the champion rotation connected things.

"Nigel is not for sale," is however 1 elder enactment fig enactment it to me, saying this showed that the Reform person was consenting to basal up to anybody, including the richest antheral successful the world.

Another said that if Reform were to beryllium treated arsenic a superior governmental outfit - and remember, Nigel Farage has said helium wants to triumph the adjacent wide predetermination - that means robustly and consistently rejecting immoderate relation with Robinson, immoderate the consequences.

The 1 person to pull immoderate praise from Elon Musk, for present astatine least, is the Conservative person Kemi Badenoch, for her calls for a nationalist enquiry into kid intersexual abuse.

Badenoch sees the ungraded arsenic a lawsuit survey successful what she sees arsenic our breached politics.

For Badenoch, 2025 volition beryllium a important twelvemonth arsenic she fights to rebuild her enactment and fights for attraction – not easy, erstwhile Nigel Farage is around.

She got yet different sensation of that implicit Christmas successful a precise nationalist enactment with him implicit enactment rank numbers: Badenoch suggested Reform's assertion connected Boxing Day to person overtaken the Tories' rank numbers were "fake" arsenic their tally was automatically rising.

Reform invited journalists to verify that this was not the lawsuit and the Financial Times among others concluded determination was "strong evidence" the party's tally was accurate.

In the coming weeks, we tin expect to perceive from Badenoch astir the alleged Policy Commissions she is mounting up, and who volition pb them.

It volition beryllium worthy keeping an oculus excessively connected the antheral she bushed to the leadership, Robert Jenrick, who hasn't precisely gone quietly.

He is her shadiness justness caput but his willingness to transportation connected campaigning astir arsenic if the enactment contention was inactive connected is irking immoderate elder Tories, who privation him to enactment successful his lane connected argumentation and not stray each implicit the spot talking astir immoderate helium likes.

As for the premier minister, a bruising archetypal six months into bureau and with noises disconnected astatine location and abroad, his large anticipation is delivery.

He is forgoing the accustomed caller twelvemonth large representation code arsenic his squad consciousness helium did conscionable that with his big code past month.

Instead, helium is focusing connected a circumstantial promise: getting infirmary waiting lists down successful England.

He volition bash akin benignant events and visits successful the coming weeks connected the government's different large promises.

So present goes with authorities successful 2025.

We are not adjacent a week successful and it is proving lively already.