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No immediate campaign to rejoin the EU, confirms new leader Lib Dem
Sir Ed Davey, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, is next on the program.
He says it is “very important that we listen” to begin to regain votes after several failed attempts to rebuild the party’s electoral success.
Past leaders “did an excellent job, but it was a difficult environment,” he admits.
There needs to be a “listening exercise” that demonstrates that the Liberal Democrats are not a “one-trick party” but understand the views of voters on a variety of issues, such as jobs, the green economy and becoming a a more supportive country.
Then, asked how the Brexit negotiations are going, he says the government is being “reckless and risky.” Given the recession due to COVID-19, “the idea of a no-deal Brexit in addition to the COVID recession would be a disaster for jobs and people’s livelihoods.”
He says that the ministers have had a “chaotic handling” of the crisis.
Pressed on whether the Liberal Democrats can campaign to rejoin the EU, Davey says his party will push for the UK to be “as close as possible to our European friends and colleagues.”
The idea that there will be a push to rejoin in two or three years is “for the birds,” he adds.
And of the Extinction Rebellion protests outside the print shops, Davey says “my concern about what we saw is that it divides people” and “undermines the message.”
“When you damage the free press, that’s shooting yourself in the foot.”
