Trump and Musk: Will the British right collaborate?

Conservatives are perfectly capable of betraying their country. Here is Nevile Chamberlain cutting a deal with Hitler at Munich in 1938

The return of Donald Trump threatens to create an extraordinary crisis in the UK and Europe. We are about to face Putin, the withdrawal of US military support, American tariffs, and a propaganda assault from the US right – all coming at us at once.

Do not underestimate the crisis it will create for our own right. Do conservatives cheer on Trump even as he harms their countries? Or do they act like the patriots they purport to be and put their own countries’ interests first?

The question will be most pressing in the UK where US influence is everywhere.

American money funds right-wing think tanks in London. Rupert Murdoch owns much of the press. Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and assorted right-wing hacks have shown they can pocket fees in the US, as long as they bend the knee to Trump, and forget about Ukraine.

And now there are rumours that Elon Musk is willing to give Nigel Farage £100 million.

Along with the money there is the appeal of believing that your enemy’s enemy is your friend. Wokeness makes conservatives bristle. Donald Trump hates the woke. So why not go along with him? Conservatives oppose a Labour government, and Elon Musk is using Twitter as a propaganda platform to hammer Keir Starmer. Why not go along with Musk too?

I wrote a warning to the largely conservative readers of the Spectator of the dangers of putting their partisanship before their country. The best won’t. But I suspect that many others will.

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Elon Musk is not a friend worth having

The richest man in the world and, as of 20 January, the most powerful man in the world will be uniting to attack the UK. The outstanding question is: what will the British right do about it?

I understand why some conservatives may be tempted to go along with their country’s enemies. I can see how the demands that we must pretend that men can be women and only whites can be racist so outrage them that any enemy of the woke becomes worth supporting.

I get it. Really, I do. In my darker moments I feel that same contempt for the worst of the left myself.

But conservatives claim to be patriots who love their country. If they mean it, they need to understand that Elon Musk and Donald Trump threaten the UK.