Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to cut Elon Musk’s access to government contracts and funding after the billionaire’s firms raked in more than £190m of taxpayer cash since 2016.
The prime minister is facing calls to prevent the Tesla tycoon’s companies benefiting from taxpayer-funded grants, subsidies and contracts in future after his repeated outbursts against the government over grooming gangs and criminal justice.
Despite his repeated attacks on the PM and his top team, Mr Musk’s Tesla has received £191m from the public purse since 2016, with £188.3m coming from Department for Transport grants designed to increase uptake of plug-in electric vehicles, The Independent can reveal.
The remainder of the government’s spend on Tesla was through local authorities such as the Scottish government purchasing Tesla vehicles and leasing charging points.
The government and local authorities have also spent nearly £300,000 on X, formerly Twitter, since 2016, with the platform having been taken over by Mr Musk for £38bn in 2022. Some £60,000 of this was spent by the Cabinet Office on Brexit related comms efforts.
The figures, compiled for The Independent by procurement specialists Tussell, led to furious calls for Sir Keir to cut ties with Mr Musk’s sprawling business empire, denying the billionaire access to future taxpayer grants, subsidies and contracts.
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