Sir Ed Davey used his Liberal Democrat conference keynote to mount a full-throated attack on Nigel Farage and President Donald Trump, warning delegates that Britain risks drifting toward a U.S.-style brand of politics if Reform UK gains ground. Framing the Lib Dems as a bulwark for “tolerance, decency and the rule of law,” Davey’s refrain — “That is Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.” — set the tone for a speech that was more about drawing moral and cultural fault lines than unveiling new domestic policy.

A campaign built on contrast

Davey tethered Farage to a constellation of right-wing figures; Trump, Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin, and argued a Reform administration would mean NHS privatisation, looser gun laws and the erosion of basic rights. His attack nodded to Farage’s past remarks about handgun laws a decade ago; Reform says it has no policy to relax firearms rules. The broader political bet is clear: make Reform, not Labour, the foil and invite moderate Conservatives disillusioned by recent years into a centrist tent the Lib Dems say they now define.

The Bournemouth address also doubled as a confidence play. The party’s record 72 MPs after last year’s general election have given Davey a larger platform — and ambition to overtake the Conservatives in seats — even as strategists acknowledge resource constraints and the risk of over-extending into Reform-facing terrain.

Musk, online harms and a new enemy within

Davey escalated a weeks-long feud with Elon Musk, condemning the tech billionaire’s recent remote appearance at a far-right London rally and accusing him of using “dangerous and inflammatory” language. He urged tougher enforcement under the Online Safety Act and said Britain must “stand up to Elon Musk,” reflecting a growing cross-party impatience with the platform’s harms and moderation failures.

Trump’s health claims collide with the evidence

The domestic political theatre played out against an international backdrop dominated by Trump’s latest health pronouncements. From the White House on Monday, the U.S. president claimed that pregnant women should avoid paracetamol (acetaminophen), asserting a link to autism, a statement widely rejected by medical authorities. Reuters and other outlets reported he also suggested parents delay or split children’s vaccinations, prompting condemnation from clinicians. 

The science does not back him. A massive Swedish nationwide cohort and sibling-control study, 2,480,797 children born 1995–2019, published in JAMA in April 2024 found no association between in-utero acetaminophen exposure and later diagnoses of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability once family-level confounding was accounted for. That analysis has been repeatedly cited by health officials to reassure pregnant patients about guideline-concordant use. 

The Sadiq Khan flashpoint

Trump also reignited his long-running feud with London’s mayor, telling the UN General Assembly that Sadiq Khan “wants to go to Sharia law”, a claim British officials and fact-checkers dismissed as baseless. The Times’ live coverage recorded the attack; radio network LBC reported the same line. In UK law, “Sharia councils” have no civil legal authority, a point underlined by a Home Office-commissioned review.

Gaza, Ukraine and a reshaped foreign-policy argument

Davey’s foreign-policy passage echoed themes from throughout conference: unwavering support for Ukraine “no matter what Donald Trump does next,” recognition of Palestinian statehood, and the contention that what is happening in Gaza constitutes genocide, and that the UK must “do all it can” to stop it. The rhetoric underscores how the Lib Dems intend to contrast their internationalist posture with both Reform’s isolationist notes and what Davey casts as Labour’s caution.

A harder economic edge: tariffs and research

On trade, Davey has for months urged an “economic coalition of the willing” to resist Trump’s tariff regime, pressing Downing Street to organise a coordinated allied response rather than, in his words, “cowering in the corner.” Tuesday’s speech reprised that stance as part of a broader pitch to defend British manufacturing from protectionist shockwaves.

He also tried to flip U.S. science politics into a UK opportunity, encouraging Britain to recruit American cancer researchers affected by U.S. funding cuts and promising to boost domestic investment. The political symbolism was deliberate: contrast UK openness to evidence-based medicine with what Davey called Trump-aligned “conspiracies.”

Beyond the hall: a cyberattack that halts Britain’s biggest carmaker

Away from the Bournemouth stage, a separate story sharpened concerns about economic resilience. Jaguar Land Rover, the country’s largest car manufacturer, extended a production shutdown triggered by a cyberattack, now due to last at least until 1 October, a blow that industry sources say is costing tens of millions of pounds a day and rippling through suppliers.

And the courts: a setback for the “one in, one out” returns deal

The government suffered a legal setback as the Court of Appeal refused to lift a High Court order temporarily blocking the deportation of an Eritrean asylum seeker to France under the UK-France “one in, one out” returns agreement. Ministers have trumpeted recent removals, but the ruling shows how individual trafficking and modern slavery claims can stall the programme’s progress.

Why it matters: Davey’s strategy is to nationalise a values argument: link Farageism to Trumpism, link Trumpism to specific harms (health misinformation, online danger, trade shocks), and claim the political centre as the only stable ground. Whether that frame moves votes beyond the conference hall, particularly in seats where Reform is rising, is the test the Lib Dems have set themselves.