What next?
Some remain sanguine about the U.K.’s prospects for close engagement with Trump and his team despite the beef with Musk.
Ciaran Martin, former head of the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre and a professor at Oxford University, said the British government would have to distinguish between “signals and noise” in its approach to Trump, suggesting that most of the more extreme statements by his allies “should be treated as noise.”
He added: “I’m sure there’ll be lots of very entertaining spats, but I’m not sure how much I would forecast real difficulties.”
Josh Simons, a Labour MP on the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, dismissed the suggestion that Britain should be friendlier to Musk, describing him as “a giant distraction” from “how we harness data to deliver for working people and to restore trust in politics.”
Peter Westmacott, a former British ambassador to the U.S, said there should be no barrier to engaging with Musk, and advised that British diplomacy “from now on will have to include engagement with individuals who are close to the incoming president, and have his ear.”
Key player
While Labour may be heartened by the confirmation of a firmly domestic-facing job at the efficiency commission for Musk, his role is all but certain to exceed his official position.
