Starmer should sue Trump over tariff damage, claims Ed Davey

The Lib Dem leader said the PM should "change the position he's taken with Donald Trump and stand up to him. Frankly we should sue Donald Trump for the damage he's caused to our country.

"I would let lawyers decided how to do it but Donald Trump is suing the BBC so we should sue him for the damage he's done to jobs, to cost of living, to growth, he needs to be held to account."

He said many businesses in the UK "no longer trust" the US when it comes to exports- and later addressing Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Edinburgh he went further putting a $1bn price tag on a legal case.

And he branded Donald Trump the "most dangerous, damaging US president of modern times" saying the decision by the US Supreme Court on Friday to strike down trade tariffs imposed by the President last April was "brilliant".

He said suing was "the only language he [the President] understands."

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He also praised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for having "stood up" to the US president, as he argued the UK should be looking to strike trade deals with different countries as an alternative to doing business with the US.

"The UK Prime Minister should not yield to a bully," Sir Ed said. "He should look at trade deals with our partners in Europe, a new EU-UK customs union, and with other countries, Commonwealth countries like Canada, so we have alternatives."

A government spokesperson said: "This is a matter for the US to determine but we will continue to support UK businesses as further details are announced."

In his speech Sir Ed said the President used "trade tariffs as a weapon for whatever crazy idea comes into his mind".

"This is causing enormous damage to jobs, growth and the cost of living here in the UK, in his own country, and around the world."

But while he said Liberal Democrats regard "Trump's behaviour and beliefs with horror" he warned that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage sees the US president as "an inspiration" and "a role model" and warned the UK must not follow the same route as America.

He told the conference that Mr Farage and his party "look to Trump's America, with private healthcare, loose gun laws and increasing authoritarian rule, and want to bring all that to Scotland and the UK".

But he insisted: "We cannot let Trump's America become Farage's Britain."

Speaking about the Reform leader, Sir Ed added it was up to the Liberal Democrats to "stop him", as he said the other parties had "all, in their own ways, contributed to Farage's rise".

Here he hit out at the Conservative Party, who he said had "destroyed people's trust in politics with the endless slew of scandals".

And while he said Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government had "promised change" he added that "it hasn't turned out that way".

In Scotland Sir Ed said voters were being let down by both the SNP Government at Holyrood and Westminster.

That, he said, meant "people and businesses have been doubly let down".

Scots have been "let down by failing Conservative and Labour governments in Westminster, and let down by a failed SNP Government here in Holyrood," the Liberal Democrats leader argued.

Hitting out at John Swinney's party - who have been in power since 2007 - he added: "The truth is, the SNP has been in government for far too long. Embroiled in their own series of scandals. And failing even to get the basics right."

He continued: "After so many years of failure, by governments in Westminster and Holyrood, is it any wonder people are feeling so disillusioned?"

But he said that the Liberal Democrats could offer "the real change people crave" - contrasting that with the offering from Reform which he said would be "change away from the country we love, to a version of Trump's America we fear".