Lede
The empire that once built railways across continents now chants three-word slogans in pub car parks.
What does not make sense
- A nation that sold itself as the cradle of freedom parrots authoritarian chants.
- Brexit promised “our country back” — instead it delivered longer queues and pricier food.
- Elon Musk, once hailed as a visionary, now props up the slogans of a failed generation.
- Far-right rallies rage about religion while ignoring that Christianity and Islam share roots.
- Blaming immigrants while the real rot sits in poor governance and rich men’s greed.
- Calling it “British patriotism” while cheering a foreign billionaire who keeps trying to push British politics around from his own platform.
- Demanding sovereignty, then waiting for an American tech owner to bless the next slogan.
- Screaming about democracy while flirting with the idea of dissolving Parliament because a social media thread said so.
- Pretending “send them back” is policy when the actual machinery would mean courts, removals, appeals, diplomatic agreements, costs, human damage, and years of legal smoke.
- Acting shocked when the same algorithm that boosts your enemy one week splits your own side the next.
Sense check
- Net migration added 685,000 people in 2023 (ONS) — in a nation of 67 million. That’s one in a hundred, not an “invasion”.
- 18% of NHS staff are foreign-born. Send them back and watch waiting times collapse.
- UK goods exports remain 10% below 2019 levels after Brexit (House of Commons Library).
- Civil liberties shrink not because of migrants, but because voters cheer loud men with empty slogans.
- Wired reported that Musk posted almost 200 times in three days about UK grooming gangs in early 2025, pushing the issue into British politics through X. [Wired]
- YouGov found that 71 per cent of Britons had an unfavourable view of Musk in January 2025, while only 20 per cent had a favourable view. [YouGov]
- YouGov also found that 69 per cent of Britons did not trust Musk on grooming gangs, including 57 per cent who did not trust him “at all”. [YouGov]
- Hansard records Musk’s rally comment: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.” [Hansard]
- The Guardian reported police estimates of 110,000 to 150,000 people at the September 2025 far-right rally, with 26 police officers injured and at least 25 arrests. [Guardian]
- In May 2026, a Survation poll cited by the Guardian put Labour on 43 per cent, Reform on 40 per cent, and Restore Britain on 7 per cent in Makerfield, after Musk retweeted Rupert Lowe’s “Restore Britain” slogan. [Guardian]
The sketch
- Scene one: A crowd chanting “send them back” in front of a Greggs, holding pints and plastic flags.
- Scene two: Elon Musk on Twitter, retweeting their chants while launching another half-baked rocket.
- Scene three: A nurse in A&E with an accent, holding the system together while the chanters wait six hours for treatment.
Update – May 2026: the algorithm found Westminster
Since this article was first published, the “send them back” nonsense has grown a new limb. It is no longer only a pub chant with a flag taped to it. It now comes with billionaire amplification, imported American grievance theatre, and a platform owner behaving as if British politics is a comment section he bought by mistake.
In January 2025, according to Wired, Elon Musk posted almost 200 times in three days about UK grooming gangs, attacked Keir Starmer, called for officials to be punished, backed Tommy Robinson’s release, and amplified claims around British politics to hundreds of millions of views. This is where the joke stops being only stupid and starts becoming structurally dangerous. A man who owns one of the main political megaphones on earth can turn a complex safeguarding failure into a weaponised identity panic before breakfast, then move on to another country by lunch.
Then came the parliamentary theatre. Musk shared support for King Charles dissolving Parliament and ordering a general election, adding a one-word “Yes” to an idea that would turn the constitutional order into a billionaire’s group chat. ITV reported the same period included Musk saying: “The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.” That is not analysis. That is a man standing outside the house with a megaphone shouting that the wallpaper is treason.
By September 2025, the language had hardened further. At a far-right rally in London organised by Tommy Robinson, Musk appeared by video link and said, according to Hansard: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.” Downing Street called the language “dangerous and inflammatory”. The Guardian reported that police estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people attended the event, 26 police officers were injured, and at least 25 people were arrested. So the line between digital provocation and street consequence is not some academic riddle. It is a police cordon with bruises.
The newest twist is even more British, by which I mean absurd with paperwork. In May 2026, the Guardian reported that Musk retweeted Rupert Lowe’s “Restore Britain” slogan during the Makerfield byelection fight. Restore Britain, a far-right breakaway from Reform UK, was polling at 7 per cent in that constituency, while Labour stood at 43 per cent and Reform at 40 per cent. Farage complained that Musk was trying to split the British right. Beautiful. The foreign billionaire who was once useful as a shiny online weapon has discovered he can point the weapon sideways.
This is the real implication for British politics. Musk does not need to stand for office, understand constituencies, respect Parliament, or live with the consequences. He can still push one faction against another, inflate extreme slogans, bless new vehicles on the right, and make mainstream politicians react to whatever X has decided is reality this week. That is not democracy. That is politics being run through a mood machine with a paid verification badge.
The worst part is that Britain already knows the weakness. The House of Commons Library says foreign political donations are banned, but foreign money can still enter UK politics through routes such as UK-registered companies that carry on business here. In March 2026, the government announced a GBP100,000 annual cap on donations from overseas electors and a ban on cryptocurrency donations, explicitly framing it as protection against foreign financial influence. So even Westminster can see the door is open. The only mystery is why anyone is still pretending the draught is weather.
“Send them back” was always ugly. Now it is also networked, monetised, boosted, exported, imported, retweeted, and repackaged as patriotism by people who treat Britain like a test market for rage.
2026 Sketch – The Imported Megaphone
Scene 1: The local chant
A small crowd stands outside a British high street shop with plastic flags and a banner reading “Send Them Back”. A phone on a tripod watches them like a camera with teeth.
Dialogue:
Crowd: “This is our country.”
Phone: “Uploading…”
Scene 2: The billionaire blessing
A giant hand reaches from a floating phone above Parliament and taps “repost”. Tiny politicians below look up as the shadow covers the green benches.
Dialogue:
Musk silhouette: “Democracy, but louder.”
MP: “Does he know where Wigan is?”
Scene 3: The split ticket
Two right-wing campaign stalls argue over the same flag while a voter walks past confused. One stall says “Reform”. The other says “Restore”. The phone above them smiles.
Dialogue:
Reform stall: “He was helping us.”
Restore stall: “Now he’s helping us.”
Phone: “Engagement is engagement.”
What to watch, not the show
- Far-right slogans recycled as “patriotism”.
- The rich selling nationalism as distraction while they cash out.
- Politicians inflating fear instead of fixing policy.
- Crowds that mistake noise for power, until real power is gone.
The Hermit take
The danger isn’t migrants. It’s the mob that hands freedom to madmen.
Keep or toss
Toss the slogans. Keep the freedom.
Sources
- ONS migration data – Net migration to the UK in 2023 was estimated at 685,000 out of a population of 67 million.
Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingdecember2023 - NHS workforce statistics – About 18% of NHS staff are foreign nationals.
Source: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics - Brexit trade impact – UK goods exports were still 10% below 2019 levels by 2023.
Source: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7851/ - Far-right rally context – Sky News report on the Tommy Robinson rally, noting its scale and tone.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/why-tommy-robinson-rally-was-different-to-any-other-13430517
Update 2026 Sources
- Wired – Elon Musk Is Posting Nonstop Falsehoods About “Grooming Gangs”: https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-disinformation-uk-grooming-gangs/
- YouGov – Public reaction to Elon Musk and the rows over child grooming gangs: https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/51298-public-reaction-to-elon-musk-and-the-rows-over-child-grooming-gangs
- Hansard – Elon Musk, House of Lords debate, 4 November 2025: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-11-04/debates/1284FB32-F31E-401F-91DB-64988A611310/ElonMusk
- The Guardian – No 10 condemns language used by Elon Musk at far-right UK rally as dangerous: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/15/no-10-condemns-language-used-by-elon-musk-at-far-right-uk-rally-as-dangerous
- ITV News – Farage calls Musk a hero but admits he is reticent about some of the billionaire’s opinions: https://www.itv.com/news/2025-01-03/elon-musk-calls-on-king-to-dissolve-parliament-amid-row-over-grooming-gangs
- The Guardian – Elon Musk retweet signals rightwing split that could help Andy Burnham in Makerfield: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/25/elon-musk-retweet-andy-burnham-makerfield-byelection-reform
- House of Commons Library – Foreign political donations in the UK: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/foreign-political-donations-in-the-uk/
- GOV.UK – Cap on donations from overseas electors and ban on crypto donations to protect democracy: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cap-on-donations-from-overseas-electors-and-ban-on-crypto-donations-to-protect-democracy
