A senior Liberal Democrat figure has accused the government and Reform UK of promoting divisive policies on migration, calling their proposals to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights ineffective and dangerous. During a speech at the party’s conference, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson dismissed claims that the opposition parties could outmaneuver far-right politics, arguing their approach would only worsen asylum challenges without addressing criminal networks. The party also announced plans to fund a new online crime agency through taxes on big tech, while responding to recent political turmoil by emphasizing continuity. Meanwhile, a leading far-right figure has downplayed the impact of a high-profile arrest on their party’s momentum.
Helen Jenner will be party’s new head in Senedd as Farage says Dan Thomas’s arrest was a ‘bump in the road’Here are some more lines from Max Wilkinson’s speech to the Lib Dem conference this morning.Wilkinson, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson, accused Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, of using “divisive language” that you would expect from the “authoritarian right”. After condemning the Tories and Reform UK for their anti-migration views, he said:And what’s the Labour response to this hard right agenda? Their home secretary has indulged in the sort of divisive language that we would usually expect from the authoritarian right …Well let me tell you home secretary – no matter how hard you chase, you’ll never catch up with [Nigel] Farage – that is a fool’s errand.He said that it was the duty of the Liberal Democrats to stand up to the Tories and Reform UK, and the “poison” they were spreading on migration. Repeatedly referring to Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick as a “plonker”, he said:[Jenrick] and his party are plonkers with dangerous ideas … and £72m to deliver them.And their allies in the Conservative party are weakly following them.He criticised the Conservatives and Reform UK for proposing to withdraw Britain from the European convention on human rights. He said:Leaving the European convention on human rights will not fix our asylum system.It will not stop dangerous Channel crossings – not a single boat – and it will not stop the criminal gangs.And he confirmed that the Lib Dems want to tax big tech to finance a new online crime agency. This was announced overnight and Peter Walker and Alexandra Topping have written the story up here.We will carry on as if nothing has happened We could have done without this bump in the road. But it has happened, We are making the best of it. Continue reading...
