• Lib Dems call for Farage to be put on foreign influence watchlist as party rebrands Reform HQ Trump Tower
• Lib Dems demand Farage is dragged in front of DCMS Committee after Reform threats to national journalists
• Davey on reshuffle: Labour “learning the wrong lessons” from calamity Conservatives
• David Chadwick raises concerns that Welsh families are being left behind in vital childcare support

Lib Dems call for Farage to be put on foreign influence watchlist as party rebrands Reform HQ Trump Tower

• The Lib Dems have called on Farage to officially register his ties with Donald Trump under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS)

• Daisy Cooper has branded the Reform leader a “Trump puppet” following his meeting with the US President this week

• The move comes as party lit up Reform HQ to rebrand it as Trump Tower last night

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that Nigel Farage be placed on an official foreign influence watchlist due to his ties to Donald Trump.

Liberal Democrat Deputy leader Daisy Cooper has raised Farage’s ties to Donald Trump as a potential example of foreign collusion – as her party called for the Reform leader to register himself under the Government’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

The party lit up Reform HQ last night to rebrand it as ‘Trump Tower’ “to show where Farage’s loyalties really lie.”

The FIRS scheme came into force on 1 July and was set up to oversee attempts by foreign powers to influence democratic processes in the UK. It requires individuals and organisations to register any arrangements they have with foreign powers within 28 days of making them. This can include arrangements to receive payments or future favourable treatment from a foreign power. Failure to register when required under the scheme is a criminal offence.

The Liberal Democrats have said given Farage’s close personal links to Trump and his efforts to lobby the US administration he should be registered under the scheme. Farage is a long-term close personal friend of Trump and described the UK’s 2016 government as “petty” for not taking advantage of his connections to the then-president. He has since repeatedly spoken at Trump fundraisers, including most recently in March of this year.

This week Nigel Farage testified in front of the US Congress regarding freedom of speech in the UK, and urged American representatives and senators to sanction Britain via diplomacy and trade channels to pressure the government over free speech. He then met with President Trump although no details were given of what was discussed.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Nigel Farage should be placed on the foreign influence watch list over his close ties to President Trump.

He has repeatedly acted like a Trump puppet and colluded with the US administration to undermine Britain’s national interests.

The public deserve to know what arrangements Farage has made with Donald Trump including during their meeting this week.

It’s high time Farage came clean and unveil whether there are any arrangements in place as Trump’s cheerleader-in-chief.

On the Reform HQ rebranding, a Liberal Democrat source added:

This week Nigel Farage skipped Parliament to fly to the US and ask Trump to punish the UK and hurt British families.

It’s only right that we lit up Reform HQ to show where Farage’s loyalties really lie.

Lib Dems demand Farage is dragged in front of DCMS Committee after Reform threats to national journalists

The Liberal Democrats have demanded that Nigel Farage is dragged in front of the DCMS Select Committee “at the earliest opportunity” to face questions about reports that Reform have threatened to ban a national paper from attending the party’s events if they did not “change a critical story”.

The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox wrote yesterday (3rd September) that he had taken calls from “a member of Reform’s leadership and an aide to Mr Farage” in which he was told that his paper “will be banned from all events if we do not change a critical story or the tone of our questions and coverage”.

It comes after Farage appeared in front of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee yesterday where he criticised the UK’s laws on free speech and compared the country to North Korea. Whilst in the US he also made comments describing Britain as “awful” and relating to free speech that he “hoped American political parties, leaders and businesses have a frank conversation with the British government and say if you don’t sort this out it is going to have serious trade implications for both of us”.

Many have pointed out the irony of Farage going to the US to rail against UK free speech laws whilst In recent weeks Reform’s Nottinghamshire Council leader has come under fire for banning his councillors from speaking to Nottinghamshire Live or sending them press releases after what he perceived to be negative coverage.

Other Reform council leaders have made similarly chilling comments to the press about their coverage. Reform’s Durham County council leader, in relation to the Nottinghamshire situation, accused local press of using “freelance activists”. He added that “these publications and editors need to realise that we… are realistically the next party in government” and that such “activists” would be “very unemployable when they have no content to share in the not so distant future”.

The Liberal Democrats are now calling for Nigel Farage to be dragged in front of the DCMS Select Committee “at the earliest opportunity” to answer questions about Reform’s “assault on the free press”. The party added that these tactics were “blatant hypocrisy” after Farage criticised the UK for in his mind becoming like North Korea.

Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson, Max Wilkinson MP said:

Nigel Farage needs to be dragged in front of the Select Committee at the earliest opportunity and be held to account for Reform’s assault on the free press.

The press is the cornerstone of our democracy and it is right that politicians submit themselves to their scrutiny. For Farage’s party to act this way is a chilling example of what could happen to our proud democratic traditions if Reform ever got into power.

He says the UK is becoming like North Korea while ruling over a party that treats the media increasingly like a despot would. British people and our free press shouldn’t have to put up with that blatant hypocrisy.

After his MAGA bootlicking tour across the pond and describing the country he professes to love as “awful” maybe he should crawl out of Trump’s pocket and face some accountability here in the UK.

Davey on reshuffle: Labour “learning the wrong lessons” from calamity Conservatives

Responding to today’s reshuffle, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

If Labour believes that having a reshuffle will solve the deep-rooted problems of this government, they are learning the wrong lessons from the calamity Conservatives before them.

Until Keir Starmer is ready to grab the bull by the horns and confront the problems our country really faces, it makes little difference who sits where around the Cabinet table.

David Chadwick raises concerns that Welsh families are being left behind in vital childcare support

This week in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats criticised the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay for their poor childcare offer. Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, David Chadwick, accused the Welsh Government of leaving Welsh families extremely disadvantaged compared to those over the border.

This week, UK Government Minister for Minister for Early Education Stephen Morgan announced yet another expansion of childcare support in England. The expansion means that in England families receive support for 30 hours of funded childcare for all children between 9 months – 4 years old.

In contrast, in Wales, support is only currently available for only 12.5 hours a week for 2-3-year-olds, 30 hours a week for 3–4-year-olds and no support for children under two. This means Wales has the least generous childcare offer in Britain, despite having some of the lowest wages and extremely high child poverty rates.

The Minister refused to be drawn on whether he thinks his colleagues in Cardiff Bay should match the offer being made in England.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have long called for the Welsh Labour Government to expand childcare support, calling for 30 hours of free childcare to be rolled out for all children between 9 months and four years. The party argues this would not just help tackle the cost-of-living crisis and child poverty, but also boost the economy by allowing more women to return to work and freeing up family incomes to be spent in the wider economy.

The Welsh Lib Dems have already claimed some success in this area, with Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS securing an additional £30 million in budget negotiations with the Welsh Government to extend the Flying Start programme and have argued they could make greater changes with more Lib Dem Senedd Members elected next year.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick said:

It is disappointing that the Welsh Labour Government has failed to match the 30 government-funded hours which has been implemented within England.

This would have had a significant impact on families and children in Wales, especially given that wages in Wales are low and child poverty rates are so high.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to highlight the failures by the Welsh Labour Government and to fight for better funding to support families and children across Wales.