LIBERAL Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said that Nigel Farage is “a threat to democracy” and does not care about British values.
Asked if Farage’s plan to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants was a good idea, he told GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope: “No, it isn’t. Because what he’s talking about are people who’ve got permanent leave to stay here, have made their lives here.
“And what he’s actually saying is, let’s have lots more administration and bureaucracy at the cost of the taxpayer. He’s got form on this, because when he campaigned along with Boris Johnson for Brexit, that meant a huge extra bill for taxpayers, a lot more red tape. And I think he should be honest about that.
“Nigel Farage has clearly not thought this through. He’s not worked out the impact on red tape, on taxes. He’s not realised that lots of these people have made their lives here, contributing to business, to the health service.
“What people are really worried about are people who have no right to be here, and liberal Democrats agree with those people. I think illegal immigration does need to be cracked down on.”
Ed Davey GB News.jpeg
He denied the party’s policy of banning mobile phones in school showed that the Lib Dems were not tackling the big issues of the day: “No, hardly. I think children, young people’s mental health is being really harmed by social media.
“You needn’t take my word for it, listen to medical experts, scientific researchers, headteachers in my constituency have warned me about this concern, and I don’t think the government’s gone far enough. What is more serious than the mental health and wellbeing of our children and young people?
“The truth is people like Nigel Farage want to tear up all the regulations we have on people like Elon Musk and X. They don’t want to police social media properly and look after our health and our wellbeing. I’ve been really shocked that Nigel Farage doesn’t seem to care about that, those rules and those laws because they’re brought in for the sake of our children.”
On why he is focussed on Farage, Sir Ed said: “Because he’s a threat to our country and to our democracy. What he wants to do…is he wants to bring Trump’s America to the United Kingdom.
“I think people who care about British values don’t want to be an adjunct to Trump’s America, don’t want to have American style health insurance, getting rid of the ban on handguns, like they have in America and, like Nigel Farage, supports fracking across our beautiful countryside.”
Asked if Lib Dems are more patriotic than Reform UK, he said: “Yes, and I’ll tell you why. We believe in British values. Let’s see if they do – decency, tolerance, respect for the rule of law. I think those are the issues that our children are taught in our schools, they often show that they’re completely opposed to those.
“By bringing in Trump-style American policies, where actually freedom of speech is reduced, the judiciary is overruled, those are the sort of things I worry about. And when you hear Nigel Farage speak, or see his councillors in action where, for example, in Nottinghamshire, they’re not even allowing the press into to report them and question them.
“I worry about where Nigel Farage will take our country and I don’t think that’s British.”
