Billy Bragg has marked former Labour politician Tony Benn’s would-be 100th birthday by posing his “five questions to ask the powerful” to Elon Musk.
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Posting on his Facebook page, the folk musician listed five questions to Elon Musk – which were originally coined by politician and left-wing campaigner Benn.
“Whenever I see Elon Musk gloating about how he’s laying waste to ‘woke’ government departments, sacking hundreds of thousands of people on a whim, I think of Tony Benn’s five questions to ask the powerful,” he wrote.
The questions are: what power have you got; where did you get it from; in whose interest do you exercise it; to whom are you accountable; and how can we get rid of you?
Read Bragg’s full post directed to Musk below:
Whenever I see Elon Musk gloating about how he’s laying waste to ‘woke’ government departments, sacking hundreds of…
Posted by Billy Bragg on Thursday, April 3, 2025
Tony Benn was a Labour Party politician who, as per The Guardian, “went from being ‘the most dangerous man in Britain’ to a national radical treasure”. He died aged 88 in 2014.
He became known for being an instrumental part in creating a left wing of the Labour Party in the 1980s, and then later was praised for his campaign against the invasion of Iraq, addressing the UK’s biggest ever demonstration during the Stop the War rally of 2003.
At the time of his death, the then Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “Tony Benn spoke his mind and spoke up for his values. Whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him, everyone knew where he stood and what he stood for.
“For someone of such strong views, often at odds with his party, he won respect from across the political spectrum. This was because of his unshakeable beliefs and his abiding determination that power and the powerful should be held to account.”
Musk has been under fire recently, getting criticism for spreading misinformation about Netflix‘s new hit series, Adolescence, saying he sold X to his AI company for $33billion, and for allegedly cheating while playing Diablo 4.
In other Elon Musk-related news, earlier this year a poster popped up in London depicting a Tesla, urging people not to buy one of the billionaire’s “Swasticars”. Spotted on the side of a bus stop in Bethnal Green, East London, the poster leads with a banner reading: “Goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds”.
Campaign group Everyone Hates Elon appears to have taken credit for the poster, sharing a photo of the banner being installed on the bus stop.
In other Billy Bragg-related news, he is one of the names announced for Latitude Festival 2025. Due to take place at Henham Park in Suffolk between July 24 and July 27. Sting, Fatboy Slim and Snow Patrol will headline, with Basement Jaxx billed as “very special guests”.
Elsewhere on the bill are the likes of Elbow, Maribou State and Sigrid (who were all confirmed last November), as well as more recent additions like Air, Kaiser Chiefs and Reggie Watts.
