• Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights
• Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed
• Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax
• Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”
• Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights

Responding to Reform’s press conference this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don’t have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools.

Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave. Doing so would only make it harder for each of us as individuals to hold the government to account and stop it trampling on our freedoms.

On Zia Yusuf’s comments regarding paying the Taliban to take back Afghan migrants, Daisy Cooper added:

Reform’s Taliban tribute plan would send British taxpayers’ cash to fund their oppressive regime, fuelling the persecution of Afghan women and children and betraying our brave Armed Forces who sacrificed so much fighting the Taliban. Clearly British values mean nothing to Farage and his band of plastic patriots.

Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed

Responding to the news that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde MP said:

The Government’s admission that the Dash questionnaire ‘doesn’t work’ is a wake up call. Survivors of domestic abuse, who are already going through unimaginable trauma, are being let down at the very first hurdle.

The Government must urgently review both Dash and the whole approach to domestic abuse, to make sure that survivors are properly supported throughout the system.

The promised new strategy for tackling violence against women and girls can’t come soon enough. It must include mandatory training for police and prosecutors so they better support survivors, must cover girls who are survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation despite reports they will not be included, and must end to the appalling delays in the criminal justice system that put women’s safety at risk.

Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax

Responding to reporting that Trump has threatened increased tariffs on countries that tax US tech companies, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, said:

The Prime Minister must rule out giving in to Donald Trump’s bullying by watering down Britain’s digital services tax.

Tech tycoons like Elon Musk rake in millions off our online data and couldn’t care less about keeping our kids safe online. The last thing they need is a tax break.

The way to respond to Trump’s destructive trade war is to work with our allies to stand up to him. Rewarding a bully means he will only come back for more.

Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”

Responding to the Government announcing that it wants to get a permanent deal with the EU agreed on food and drink within the next 18 months, Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson James MacCleary MP said:

Any move to cut the reams of red tape holding our exporters back is of course welcome but the Government is moving at a speed sloths would laugh at.

The Conservatives’ botched Brexit deal has held back our economy for too long, and to announce that in the next 18 months things will only get slightly better simply won’t wash.

Adding insult to injury, the Government sold its recent talks as a done deal only to now turn around and admit a finalised agreement could be years away. Our farmers and food producers simply cannot wait that long.

To give people the change that they are crying out for, protect family finances and rebuild our public services we have to transform our economic relationship with Europe. The Government must free itself from the shackles of its own timidity and immediately begin negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union.

Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Responding to the news that the Taliban have announced they are “ready and willing” to work with Farage to accept deported Afghans, Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

Reform’s proposals essentially add up to a Taliban tax: sending billions to an oppressive regime that British soldiers fought and died to defeat. Not a penny of taxpayers’ money should go to a group so closely linked to terrorist organisations proscribed by the UK.