“This American President is out of control,” Sir Ed Davey warned GB News today. He labelled Donald Trump “the appalling man in the White House”.
In an exclusive sit-down interview in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, with GB News’ Chief Political Correspondent Katherine Forster, the Liberal Democrat leader took pops at the President, the PM, Reform, the Conservatives and the Greens.
As the party meets in York for its Spring Conference, there are frustrations the third party in terms of seats in Westminster isn’t cutting through with the public.
The Lib Dems have 72 MPs. But Reform with just 8, and the Greens with 5, are hogging the headlines and surging in the polls.
Some worry their languishing in the polls bodes ill for the local elections in May and their prospects beyond.
But, just as Donald Trump, or rather anger towards him, helped Mark Carney be elected as Canadian Prime Minister last year, the Liberal Democrats believe the public’s widespread disapproval of the President can be turned to their advantage.
They are hoping for a “’Love Actually’ dividend”.
In the 2003 film, Hugh Grant, playing a British PM, famously stood up to the then-President of the US.
In an interview with GB News, Sir Ed said ‘This American President is out of control’
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GB NEWS
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has worked hard to build a good relationship with Donald Trump, though he is currently out of favour and Britain is effectively on the President’s naughty step as a result of the PM saying “no” on Iran.
As Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch has to be mindful of what she says, and initially said we should support the US over Iran.
Nigel Farage, Reform’s leader, is famously a friend of the President.
Sir Ed Davey today told GB News he is “very cross at the way the Conservatives and Nigel Farage and Reform have backed Donald Trump, have been their cheerleader, even egging on the Government to try to get them to support this illegal war of Donald Trump and not realizing the impact is going to have across the Middle East on our friends and allies, but also on people and our economy here in the UK”.
Sir Ed addressed the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference earlier today
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With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sending oil prices over $100 a barrel and Brits already seeing the price of petrol and diesel rocket, Sir Ed Davey stresses how Trump’s actions are punishing hard-working families who are already struggling with the cost of living.
As Trump now tells allies to send ships to keep the Strait open, the Lib Dem leader is keenly aware that Trump’s war is unpopular here.
Polling by YouGov in January found 81 per cent had an unfavourable opinion of Trump.
And on the war, a YouGov poll on 9 March found 59 per cent opposed to the US military action in Iran.
Polling the same day found 74 per cent expect “a negative impact on their household finances”.
GB News’ Chief Political Correspondent Katherine Forster sat down for an exclusive interview with the Liberal Democrat leader
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GB NEWS
Sir Ed Davey is in the privileged position of being able to be rude about the President without consequence.
When GB News asked whether this was because he “doesn’t expect to be in power”, he said it was because he “likes speaking plainly”.
The Liberal Democrats were enjoying their usual fun and eye-catching visits in Yorkshire: learning to knit, feeding alpacas. Sir Ed Davey says, ”I’m really optimistic about the local elections.”
He slammed new Green leader Zack Polanski, who once was a Liberal Democrat and was rejected as a candidate for Richmond Park, saying when he was in the party: “When he was in the Lib Dems, he didn’t do particularly well….he had a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way, frankly”.
“He does have some very dangerous ideas…..pulling Britain out of Nato at a time of such international insecurity when we need to stand up to Putin, is, I think, a disastrous, dangerous policy.”
Sir Ed Davey says “forget the polls”. He claims last year the Lib Dems “won more council by-elections in the whole of the year than Reform. And more than Greens, Labour & Conservatives combined.”
“They are backing the Liberal Democrats”. We’ll see if this confidence holds when the results come in in May.
Just as Carney in Canada was boosted by an anti-Trump vote, if the Lib Dems do well in May, they’ll have, to some extent, Donald Trump to thank.