No special courts or election rules can stop the disinformation from spreading before voters see it. The court of public opinion, which over the past decade has seen and heard everything, no longer cares.

I would prefer to stay out of politics,” Elon Musk told his followers in 2021, on the platform then known as Twitter. Plenty has changed since then. The world’s richest man appears to have a new goal: upending Europe.

The billionaire Tesla owner might be feuding with Keir Starmer’s government, but he can expect a big payday thanks to one of Labour’s key schemes.