The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has lashed out at Nigel Farage and Reform UK accusing them of 'dividing' people and sharing 'Trump's admiration of Vladimir Putin'.
Sir Ed's comments came today as he spoke out against the rise of Reform UK, equating their vision to a UK version of 'Trump's America', and claimed the Liberal Democrats had 'proudly' led opposition to the US president in the UK.
And Sir Ed, who was said just a month ago to be losing support among his own MPs for his 'over cautious approach' said his party regarded 'Trump's behaviour and beliefs with horror' while he accused Mr Farage of seeing the US president as 'an inspiration, a role model' not 'as a threat, not as a danger'.
As many as half of the Lib Dems' 72 MPs are said to be disillusioned with his leadership despite his record general election result for the party in 2024.
Many believe he has failed to cut through against parties including Reform and the Greens leading to them trailing in the polls.
One said last month: 'Morale is low. No one is saying get rid of Ed. But what they are saying is that those around him need to move with significant pace towards the development of a national story for the party to tell. We need to be a bit more serious about being the third party.'
But in a sign he is fighting back against criticism that he is failing to engage in the debate at home, he told his party's Scottish conference in Edinburgh that 'we cannot let Trump's America become Farage's Britain'.
Hitting out at Reform, he said: 'They want to divide people, not bring people together.'
The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has lashed out at Nigel Farage and Reform UK accusing them of 'dividing' people and sharing 'Trump's admiration of Vladimir Putin'
Sir Ed's comments came today as he spoke out against the rise of Reform UK, equating their vision to a UK version of 'Trump's America'
He also claimed that Mr Farage and Reform 'look to Trump's America, with private healthcare, loose gun laws and increasing authoritarian rule' and 'want to bring all that to Scotland and the UK'.
Sir Ed also told the conference that rival parties including Labour, the Tories and the SNP 'have all, in their own ways, contributed to Farage's rise'.
He said Labour had 'promised change' before adding 'it hasn't turned out that way' and accusing them of creating 'a mess' while he claimed the Conservative Party 'destroyed people's trust in politics with the endless slew of scandals'.
Turning on the SNP, as he spoke from their homeland, he said people and businesses in Scotland has been 'doubly let down' as they had been affected by 'failing Conservative and Labour governments in Westminster' as well as a 'failed SNP government here in Holyrood'.
Sir Ed said that the SNP, who have been in power since 2007, had 'been in government for far too long'.
'They have been embroiled in their own series of scandals and failing even to get the basics right,' he said.
'Letting people down, on the NHS, on social care, on education, on the economy and the environment, on the cost of living. And the ferries fiasco.'
Scottish leader Alex Cole-Hamilton told the party conference yesterday that the Liberal Democrats were the 'antidote to Reform'.
Mr Davey also suggested the UK Government should sue US President Donald Trump for $100billion dollars for the damage caused to the UK by trade tariffs
Elsewhere, Mr Davey suggested the UK Government should sue US President Donald Trump for $100billion dollars for the damage caused to the UK by trade tariffs.
The Lib Dem branded Mr Trump the 'most dangerous, damaging US president of modern times' as he welcomed a 'brilliant' decision by the US Supreme Court on Friday which struck down trade tariffs imposed by the president last April.
In the wake of that decision, Sir Ed told the conference that the UK Government should now take legal action against the White House.
Speaking at the event in Edinburgh, the Liberal Democrat said: 'My advice today to Keir Starmer is to sue Donald Trump for $100bn dollars for the damage he has caused to Scotland and our country.
'It's the only language he understands.'
The Liberal Democrats leader had 'long said Keir Starmer's approach is wrong' when it comes to relations with the US and Mr Trump.
'You can't kowtow to a bully,' he argued, adding he did not think the Prime Minister had 'achieved anything in his trade negotiations' with the US.
Sir Ed insisted: 'I would take a different view, I would sue Donald Trump for the damage he has caused to our economy, to jobs, to businesses, to investment, to the cost of living.'
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has said: 'We cannot let Trump's America become Farage's Britain'. Pictured: Reform UK's Nigel Farage with US President Donald Trump last year
He praised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for having 'stood up' to the US president, as he argued the UK should be looking to strike trade deals with different countries as an alternative to doing business with Mr Trump.
'The UK Prime Minister should not yield to a bully,' Sir Ed said.
'He should look at trade deals with our partners in Europe, a new EU-UK customs union, and with other countries, Commonwealth countries like Canada, so we have alternatives.'
It came as the Liberal Democrats leader used his conference speech to mount a fierce attack on the US president, accusing Mr Trump of 'using trade tariffs as a weapon for whatever crazy idea comes into his mind'.
This, Sir Ed insisted, is 'causing enormous damage to jobs, growth and the cost of living here in the UK, in his own country, and around the world'.
