Ed Davey has called on the Government to fix our broken relationship with the EU in his first comments since Donald Trump won the US election. And he did not mince his words about the President-Elect, referring to him as a dangerous, destructive, demagogue.
He said:
This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world’s largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue.
The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security.
Millions of Americans – especially women and minorities – will be incredibly fearful about what comes next. We stand with them.
Families across the UK will also be worrying about the damage Trump will do to our economy and our national security, given his record of starting trade wars, undermining NATO and emboldening tyrants like Putin.
Fixing the UK’s broken relationship with the EU is even more urgent than before. We must strengthen trade and defence cooperation across Europe to help protect ourselves from the damage Trump will do.
Now more than ever, we must stand up for the core liberal values of equality, democracy, human rights and the rule of law – at home and around the world.”
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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46 Comments
Very disappointing comment by Sir Ed. Regardless of the reality of the character, the man has been democratically elected, seeming also by electoral votes, and we need our political leaders to deal with the reality. (Europe is now leaning in the same direction)
Sir Ed needs to be prime miniterial and diplomatic and deal with the world as it is.
I disagree with Ellyot. The P.M. is obliged to say warm words but as leader of the third and unashamedly liberal party, Sir Ed is right to voice what most of us and most labour supporters are thinking. I know people will criticise the analogy but would you expect a liberal politician to pick up the phone in 1932-3 and congratulate Herr Hitler yon his election victories. I know that the comparason is somewhat odious but there are real dangers to democracy in the US and to the world order generally. I agree with Ed.
Well done Ed. At this time we need honesty. Ed is not the Prime Minister, he’s a leader of the Liberal Democrats as such it is right that he stands up for Liberal values. To do anything else would be hypocritical and mealy-mouthed.
So pleased at least one party leader is telling the truth as many in this country see it. Compare with Starmer’s talk of shoulder to shoulder defending democracy-has he listened to Trump? It is not as if Trump makes any secret of his values. RIP Palestine, Ukraine, democracy in some East European states and the planet, etc. There comes a time when the usual conventions about being polite to newly elected leaders because you are going to have to work with them has to be set aside. Does Starmer think we will not be damaged by tariffs if he is nice to Trump?
“the man has been democratically elected”
using a system as flawed as our own…..
“it is right that he (Ed) stands up for Liberal values. To do anything else would be hypocritical and mealy-mouthed.”
Seconded
We may want to consider why Trump was elected after 4 years of a left liberal government and learn how to bring more inside our own tent. Millions of voters chose what Trump offered despite his much discussed failings. How will LD work over the next four years to avoid this happening in the Uk, is in my view, a useful take away from today.
Well done Sir Ed. These truthful comments are what many people think and believe. However international relationships and weak political leaders dictate the level of response. The war monger’s are very happy and support this appointment ( which I am sure will include Putin ). The world is now in for a very rough ride. I end as I started, well done Sir Ed for a frank and forthright appraisal.
Atlanticism is dead.
The US has proven to be an erratic and unreliable ally and will get worse come January 2025. We must turn to the broader democratic world and strengthen our alliances. We must prepare for a NATO without the US and rebuild our relationship with Europe, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other democracies before the tariffs start being put up. We must step up our support for Ukraine, for Georgia, for Taiwan, and Gaza.
Taxation must rise, borrowing must rise, and civil society must strengthen if we are to do this. If this is to be our final stand against authoritarianism then let us face it with all our efforts.
It’s now time for Sir Edward to revive the EU credentials of the Liberal Democrat Party.
Just heard from my niece in North Carolina. “What a bunch of idiots Americans are. There only voted for him because like him, all he and Americans can think of is money.” Read Starmer’s grovelling message to Trump. Ashamed of Labour. This special relationship with US is a myth. Trump doesn’t give a damn about Britain or anywhere else. We are on our own now. No friends in EU or US now.
Well done Ed.
Finally a voice of reason. Trump cannot deny the message written here. He may however have to look up the big words
“What a bunch of idiots …….”
This was the line taken by many on the supposedly progressive liberal left in the UK when the Brexit vote didn’t go their way.
It’s not the best approach. IMO.
I think a congratulatory message for the new leader of the free world and his team is the usual protocol. Perhaps this mud slinging works for Liberal Democrats but it demonises over half of America who democratically voted for Mr Trump.
I agree with Ed wholeheartedly, what on earth were people in America thinking, hasn’t the world got more than enough dangerous men in charge
>” We must prepare for a NATO without the US”
Without the US, NATO has no teeth.
Trump has probably made the creation of a European army much more likely, and expect the UK and France to lead, hopefully with German Participation and funding.
Thank you Ed.
Is it time to stop using vague euphemisms like “Fixing the UK’s broken relationship with the EU” and clearly state an actual policy position instead? Like rejoining the Single Market and Customs Union in the short term, with a view to returning to full EU membership in the longer term?
@Peter Martin: seconded! His voters are not “idiots”. Also remember lots of women voted for Trump.
Ed’s statement is correct factually and politically, in my opinion. He is an opposition leader and rightly dismayed by many of Trump’s intentions and promises.
Rejoining the Single Market is not the solution to the potential acute foreign policy issue that faces us in Ukraine.
We do need increased defence spending and cooperation with our close EU allies.
It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that Trump’s success owes much to (a) misogyny (b) racism (Hillary presuming to oppose The Donald was impertinent enough; but a woman of colour…?) (c) the corruption of money. As well as downright stupidity on the part of a lot of voters. And if someone is downright stupid and isn’t going to listen to you in a month of Sundays, you are entitled to call them downright stupid.
You can accept that people vote Republican while, perhaps, thinking them deeply misguided. But where Trump specifically is concerned, he is a convicted felon, a molester of women and someone who incited an attempt at insurrection after he lost fair and square to Biden. He is objectively unfit to be President, and it beggars belief that the Biden administration didn’t move heaven and earth to get him in front of a jury in 2021/2022.
Starmer, I guess, has to say the necessary things. When Bad Enoch fawns over Trump, she will actually mean it. Ed, however, is in the happy position of not needing to be diplomatic and he is right not to be.
Sir Ed is quite right to speak the truth as he sees it. Just because the US president is powerful we don’t have to accept that 2+2=5.
Kamala Harris suffered from the incubancy problem as she was not perceived as a candidate of change.
Most regular voters accept the Brexit was a deception. But the EU is almost as flawed as the US system. It needs to be replaced with a confederation of independent democracies spanning the world.
NATO needs to be superceded by a global defence alliance / pact.
This won’t be popular with many LibDems but we need to increase the number of warheads in our nuclear deterrent to at least 500 (Russia and China together are so vast that their crazy leaders might get ideas that they can escape the devastating impact of a nuclear war).
We will also need to develop alternatives to Trident D5 SLBM (they haven’t exactly been reliable) as the US won’t defend us from Russian tyranny. These will need to be flexible and effective.
Two very good questions from Ed at PMQs and an excellent email to members. We should all be proud of him. Now I’m going out to dekiver some leaflets.
It is worth remembering that there has always been an isolationist strand in USA politics. George Washington himself was an isolationist, albeit against a background of inter-European wars.
Warren Harding was elected in 1921 as an isolationist, perhaps as a reaction to Woodrow Wilson and his League of Nations.
But ultimately, after Pearl Harbor, the USA realised that they couldn’t permanently isolate themselves from the rest of the world, and settled to a long period where internationalism was the accepted norm.
@Nick
Yes, I too was very much in a “keep calm and deliver leaflets” mood this morning!
I never heard the comments by Ed Davey, Sky News cut him off as soon as he stood up to do a review of how the new Tory leader had done!!! I had to switch to the BBC.
Once again a party with 72 MPS is ignored.
I have written to Sky New registering my disappointment with them, suggest others do the same.
Glad to see this statement from Ed. I accept that Trump has been elected, but the Americans need to know that there are people in Europe who disagree with Trump’s view of the world and are concerned about misinformation.
@Tom 6th Nov ’24 – 11:18am…. “What a bunch of idiots Americans are. There only voted for him because like him, all he and Americans can think of is money.” Read Starmer’s grovelling message to Trump. Ashamed of Labour…..
Where to start?
In the UK more people voted for Farage than voted LibDem so idiocy isn’t restricted to that side of the pond..
The US media reports little, or nothing, of what happens in the rest of the world so their voters can be excused for worrying far more about ‘day to day living costs’ than Ukraine, Palestine, etc..
As for Starmer ‘s message; he is the man who, like it or not, has to deal with Trump..You won’t get far by insulting a petty minded narcissist, especially when he is the most powerful man on the planet…
On the other hand, Ed Davey can say what he likes; outside of this party no-one cares..
As a party, we need to try to do persuade left behind voters that their interests lie in a liberal alternative to right-wing populism.
Calling such voters “idiotic” is not helpful. And is in itself not clever at all.
We also need to show some intellectual seriousness in understanding why Trump voters think their interests lie in supporting such a deeply flawed man.
Agree with Jane Alliston Pickard we have lessons to learn and seats to retain This is so important if we are not to see the centre supporters drift back to the right
Insulting voters and calling them idiots doesn’t really work though does it just like with the EU referendum. I agree with Ellyott and Peter. Isn’t it better to disagree respectfully. And what is this party’s alternative to right wing populism, libertarianism? They are not exactly opposites are they. I come across far more left on right racism these days.
The only person in this thread who has actually called US voters ‘idiots’ is Tom’s niece in California.
Starmer may feel obliged to be diplomatic in his language. But it’s good to hear Ed calling Trump out for what he really is. Even if ‘outside of this party no-one cares’ !
America is no longer a reliable ally. We need to strengthen our own armed forces and build stronger alliances with those we can trust to defend liberal democracy.
I’m pleased that Ed’s in a position to be frank about his feelings towards Trump’s win, but it’s also right that as PM, Starmer is more diplomatic.
The result is depressing, but the reaction – whereby lots of well intentioned people are continuing with the insults of those who have different priorities is arguably more so. If we can learn anything from the Corbyn era it’s that self congratulation might be good for the ego, but it’s not an effective way to win hearts and minds. Telling people that ‘we’re the good guys, so our policies must be good and disagreeing with us means you’re bad’ is no substitute for thoughtful arguments, or seeking workable compromise.
My hot take is it’s too easy to forget what it is you are campaigning for, and get caught up in the idea of winning an argument, even if that means misrepresenting what the concerns are. Before long we’re getting a serotonin boost from the cheers from those who already agree with us, forgetting that if our mic-drop comment entrenches the ‘opposition’ into seeing our POV as out of touch then we’ve made things worse.
Im not sure how much soul-searching we should do about this. America is bloody weird, its Voters are weird & very, very different from ours. The USA has a very strange, dark History & there are Factors like Slavery & Religion that dominate American Culture & hardly exist here.
I am as depressed as everyone else but “This too will Pass”.
I think they have to do soul searching, and require a bit of humility, but I’m a big fan of learning from someone else’s mistakes before being forced to learn from your own.
The global implications are considerable, and the lost opportunities, especially when it comes to working on global environmental targets, could paralyse me with fear if I think about it too much. I had a bit of a wobble this morning, but we need to face the world as it is, not as we wish it were. This is an opportunity to talk up the benefits of closer relationships with the rest of Europe, and it’s a good time to think about what we can do to shift away from polarising rhetoric in our own country.
My main consolation when it comes to British politics is the US is likely to have had their next election before we have ours. The right wingers with their populist rhetoric will be emboldened by Trump’s victory, but we must resist the temptation to engage with them in ways that give them further energy. With a bit of luck they’ll have lost momentum by the time we’re next in full election mode.
There will be lessons to learn about tackling populism and conspiracy theories and how people get their news. There’s no single flashy solution to it all, but fortunately community engagement is what we’re good at.
I don’t see anywhere Ed is advocating “libertarianism”. Besides the so-called “libertarianism” of the right-wing political elite is actually nothing of the kind. It’s all about freedom of the rich and powerful from the consequences of their actions, and that’s not liberty it’s licence. The proper term is “licentialism”.
Thanks for coining that term, Alex, though I prefer ‘corporatarianism’, as that is essentially what the likes of the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Cato Institute espouse, not ‘libertarianism’, though that term has become tainted, essentially meaning ‘anarchism for the rich’, or ‘conservatism for hippies’.
Trumpism is more paleoconservatism, and nativism – George W Bush once said of the latter ‘nativism, or fear of foreigners, affects your soul. I don’t think you can prosper if you’re fearful of somebody else’.
“Trumpism is more paleoconservatism……”
From wiki…
‘Paleoconservatism is a political philosophy and a paternalistic strain of conservatism in the United States stressing American nationalism, Christian ethics, regionalism, traditionalist conservatism, and non-interventionism. Paleoconservatism’s concerns overlap with those of the Old Right that opposed the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s[1] as well as with paleolibertarianism.[2][3] By the start of the 21st century, the movement had begun to focus more on issues of race.[4][5] ‘
Which leaves out non-Christians (including atheists)., internationalism….
thank you, thank you, thank you Ed
Thank you for your words Sir Ed. Someone had to say it.
@Nonconformistradical Indeed it does, whereas ‘neoconservatives’ are denounced for pro-interventionism, also derided as ‘liberal imperialism’.
It’s UK voters not American voters that Ed was talking to when he made his comments (it’s rather fanciful to think that most American voters even know who he is, let alone care what the leader of a small opposition party says about their country’s elected leader). And potential Lib Dem voters in particular are solidly anti-Trump. The stance of @Ellyott and @Jason Connor is essentially to lecture UK voters that we should shut our mouths and kow-tow to the newly elected leader.
When you listened to his incoherent ramblings on the last televised debate, you wonder what he is going to be like mentally when he’s 82 in four years time. Worrying.
@ Chris Moore,
“…..we need to ….persuade left behind voters that their interests lie in a liberal alternative to right-wing populism.”
The left often argue for the need to offer a socialist alternative, but how is “a liberal alternative” going to be any sort of alternative at all? What we’ve had in the Liberal Democracies in the last 30 years or so is, er, liberalism. A liberal form of capitalism.
The term ‘liberal’ has a loose meaning and is interpreted quite differently in different countries. So to answer my own question: I’d say a liberal alternative could be a liberal form of socialism.
There’s no reason that socialism has also to be more authoritarian than capitalism. Unless liberals are advocating a redistribution of wealth and power in society, which is inherently a socialist argument, those who have been left behind are unlikely to consider a liberal offering as anything other than a continuation of the status quo.