Former chief inspector of constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor says Elon Musk should stick to 'batteries, cars and rockets'

7 August 2024, 08:26 | Updated: 8 August 2024, 11:57

Sir Thomas Winsor has told LBC that Elon Musk should "stick to batteries, cars and rockets".

Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the former chief of constabulary said that repeated talk of two-tier policing by "politicians and others" deliberately "increases a perception of unfairness" - a notion he says is incorrect.

Two-tier policing "doesn't exist" he asserted, reminding the public of "the constable's oath every police officer takes".

It follows comments from Elon Musk on X in which the tech billionaire labelled the Prime Minister "two-tier Kier".

Starmer and musk have been engaged in a war of words since the Tesla billionaire claimed: “Civil war is inevitable.”

"This oath is to police with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, to uphold fundamental rights and accord equal respect to all people according to law, and that's what they do."

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"And when people, politicians and others, talk repeatedly, and these are their talking points, and they know what they're doing about distrust of the police and two-tier policing, over and over again - that, in itself, increases a perception of unfairness which is not correct."

Flagging that social media firms "should be policed vigorously", Sir Winsor went on to call for the implementation of a licensing system for social media companies operating in the UK.

When asked on LBC with Nick Ferrari whether he saw evidence of two-tier policing during his time as chief inspector for constabulary, Sir Thomas replied: "No."

He continued: "It doesn't exist - policing is even handed.

Speaking on the comments made by Elon Musk in recent days in relation to the riots across the UK, the former commander said the billionaire should: "stick to batteries, cars and rockets"

Read more: 28 people charged after riots erupt in Middlesbrough

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He also called for implementation of a licensing system for social media companies operating in the UK.

"Mr Musk, it seems to me should stick to batteries, cars and rockets because he's very good at it and leave to the UK authorities the job of dealing with the protection of the safety and security of our communities," he told Nick.

When asked by Ferrari how he would "actually get your hands on an Elon Musk, or even, if he's San Francisco, a Nick Clegg", Sir Thomas said: "I'm not talking about individuals but if there are executives of large companies and those companies have or are thought to be committing offences - the regulatory system which I contemplated and spoke about five years ago was creating a licensing system in the UK.

"In other words, you need a licence from the government regulatory authority to operate public infrastructure like you do with energy, telecommunications, water and transport - they're no different.

"And the conditions of those licences and if you break them, you can lose your licence, so you're out of business.

"The conditions of the licence could say that the senior executives of the company must spend at least two weeks a year in the UK, and when they come to the UK, they can be lifted."