Tommy Robinson’s Musk-funded Russia trip spurs call to defend UK democracy

The UK must do more to defend its democracy after it emerged that Elon Musk’s family foundation had taken the far-right activist Tommy Robinson to Russia, Ed Davey has said.Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was brought to Russia by the Musks, the billionaire tech mogul’s father told the Guardian.Robinson appeared last month in Moscow, from where he issued calls for supporters to take to the streets after a knife attack in Belfast. He shared video of himself in a luxury Moscow hotel with Errol Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson.Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: “Tommy Robinson is a useful idiot for a hostile state. What kind of so-called British patriot jets to Moscow to rub shoulders with Putin’s cronies, bankrolled by a US trillionaire?“We must protect our democracy from far-right thugs, shady tech bros and foreign interference.”Errol Musk said: “I brought him out to Russia,” adding that both men had held meetings with Russian business figures. He said the trip had been covered by the Musk Foundation, a private philanthropic organisation founded by Elon Musk and his brother, Kimbal.The visit to Moscow has come at a time when the Kremlin and its proxies appear to have been forging links with European far-right figures. At the same time as Robinson’s visit, Russia was also hosting the self-styled misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, who posted footage of themselves firing weapons and riding in a tank in the apparent company of the Russian military.Police in Britain stopped Robinson and seized his phones on his return to Russia. Robinson had previously visited the country several years ago, but this time he appeared to be more explicit in his praise for Russia, sharing footage of ultra-nationalists holding a rally in memory of the murdered British teenager Henry Nowak.Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty ImagesErrol Musk, who also went to St Petersburg for an annual Kremlin-backed economic forum, said Robinson was a “fine young man”.“He’s very hotheaded, but at the same time, he’s learning,” he said. Errol Musk has travelled to Russia in the past and at one point met Vladimir Putin. A Russophile who said he believed Moscow had a “genetic advantage” over the west, he holds firmly pro-Russian positions on the conflict in Ukraine.Topics covered in meetings alongside Robinson included Russia’s attempts to address a decline in births. “Tommy really got into these meetings,” he said.Errol Musk said he had become familiar with Robinson after the far-right activist was imprisoned. Robinson has a number of convictions but sought the spotlight in particular after he was sent to prison for breaching a contempt of court order.“So I contacted Tommy, I was asked on British television once what I think of Tommy,” he said.Robinson said last month that he had come to see the “beauty of a civilised society” after visiting Russia.The link has again raised questions about about UK authorities’ continued use of X, which is owned by Elon Musk. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said it will stop using the platform because it “now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate”.The Liberal Democrat MP Luke Taylor said: “Elon Musk is hostile to British values and we must break our addiction to his hateful algorithm.”Matthew Ford, a British security expert and associate professor at the Swedish Defence University, wrote on Bluesky: “The owner of X and friend of the president of our No 1 ally pays to send an extremist English nationalist to Russia to collude against British democracy.”He questioned how new policies could stop “ostensibly friendly foreign actors from subverting British democracy without appearing to validate the free-speech arguments they weaponise to resist regulation”.