Ed Davey conference speech: don’t let Trump’s America become Farage’s Britain

EMBARGO: Immediate Release 

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today issue a rallying call to defend British values and not let Nigel Farage turn the United Kingdom into a version of Trump’s America.

He will warn that Nigel Farage wants to roll back gun laws, privatise the NHS, allow social media barons to act with impunity, and trample on basic rights and freedoms. He will warn that, just like Trump, Farage would leave Britain in a constant state of chaos and pick on groups of people one by one, from those with mental health problems to parents of children with special needs.

Ed Davey will contrast the dark, Trump-inspired version of change Nigel Farage is offering with a positive vision of the country rooted in British values of decency, tolerance and the rule of law. He will say that, unlike Nigel Farage who is on the side of Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the Liberal Democrats “love Britain”, are proud of our country and on the side of the British people. He will set out the change the Liberal Democrats want: fixing the NHS and taking care seriously, cutting energy bills and boosting the economy through a better trade deal with Europe, and standing tall on the world stage.

Commenting on Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will say:

“Imagine living in the Trump-inspired country Farage wants us to become. Where there’s no NHS, so patients are hit with crippling insurance bills. Or denied healthcare altogether.

“Where we pay Putin for expensive fossil fuels and destroy our beautiful countryside with fracking – while climate change rages on.

“Where gun laws are rolled back, so schools have to teach our children what to do in case of a mass shooting. Where social media barons are free to poison young minds with impunity.

“Where the government tramples on our basic rights and freedoms, unconstrained by the European Convention on Human Rights. Where Andrew Tate is held up as an example to young men. Where racism and misogyny get the tacit support of people in power. Where everything is in a constant state of chaos.

Come and join us. To oppose this failing Labour government and offer our great country real change.

Where the Government tramples on our basic rights and freedoms, unconstrained by the European Convention on Human Rights.

Where Andrew Tate – Andrew Tate – is held up as an example to young men.

Where racism and misogyny get the tacit support of people in power.

Where everything is in a constant state of chaos.

That is Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Instead of the real change Liberal Democrats have always championed – the change our country desperately needs – Farage is picking off groups of people, one by one.

If you’ve got a mental health problem, Farage says you’re probably making it up. Even as suicides have risen to a 25-year high.

If your child is disabled or has special needs, Farage says it’s been wrongly diagnosed. Even as parents struggle against the crisis in SEND.

But of course, it’s on immigration where he claims to offer the change people want.

So let’s look at Farage’s record on immigration.

Who was it who campaigned to rip up 27 return agreements, where in the EU, the United Kingdom could legally and fairly return people who had no right to be here?