Davey sets goal to overtake Tories and says Farage wants to roll back gun laws

Sir Ed Davey has accused Nigel Farage of wanting to roll back gun laws and spark “mass shooting” drills in British schools, as he set the Liberal Democrats a target of outperforming the Tories at the next election.

“Trump’s America” will be the blueprint for “Farage’s Britain”, the Lib Dem chief said in an attack on the Reform UK leader during his keynote address in Bournemouth.

He also told party activists they should aim to win more parliamentary seats than the Conservatives, for the first time in more than 100 years.

Sir Ed and his party have spent the four-day conference criticising Mr Farage, US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

In his speech to wrap up the political gathering, the Lib Dem leader asked party members to “imagine living in the Trump-inspired country Farage wants us to become”.

He added: “Where gun laws are rolled back, so schools have to teach our children what to do in case of a mass shooting.”

“That is Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain,” Sir Ed said.

As head of Reform UK, Mr Farage has not spoken about gun control.

But in 2014, as Ukip leader, he called a ban on handguns “ludicrous” and said firearms laws should be relaxed.

Restrictions on small arms put in place after the 1996 Dunblane massacre were a “kneejerk” response, Mr Farage said at the time.

A Reform source said: “Ed Davey squanders his big moment spouting total madness. The Lib Dems are an irrelevant laughing stock.”

Elsewhere in his speech, Sir Ed said the party has a “moral responsibility to aim high” at the next general election.

He added: “And we have a historic opportunity to win big – as the only party now representing the views and values of Britain’s decent silent majority.

“So let me tell you – in confidence – our secret first target for the next general election.

“Our first target is to win more seats than the Conservatives, for the first time since Herbert Henry Asquith in 1910.”

Lib Dem strategists believe that with the political landscape now in flux, they could stand to be one of the main beneficiaries of falling support for the Tories and Labour.

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice has however warned the party has “maxed out” the strategy of targeting Tories and should now focus on disenfranchised Labour voters.

The Lib Dems have attempted to prompt a conversation about patriotism during the conference, amid protests outside migrant hotels where national flags have appeared.

In his speech, Sir Ed sketched out a vision of what it means to be a British patriot: “The land of the Lionesses and the home of Formula One, Windermere and Loch Ness, male voice choirs and Hogmanay, county shows and school fairs, fish and chips, village greens and cricket pavilions.”

But above all, values make the nation, he said, adding: “We are a nation that believes in tolerance, decency and respect for both individual freedom and the rule of law. That is our United Kingdom.”

In a rally on the first day of the conference, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron draped himself in a St George’s Cross flag and warned that the Lib Dems could not allow national banners to be claimed by any one political grouping.

During the conference, the party has announced:

– Plans for a windfall tax on the big banks to set up a lending scheme that will help homeowners install solar panels and insulation.

– An initiative to place cigarette-style health warnings on social media apps to bolster the protection of children online.

– A new law to bar ministers from lobbying on behalf of foreign leaders in order to “Trump-proof” British politics.

– A promise to set up police front desks in libraries, shopping centres and community hubs.

– An open invitation to US cancer scientists to come to work in the UK after their research was halted by the Trump administration.

Sir Ed’s conference speech lasted approximately 50 minutes.

In it, he made only sparing references to either Prime Minister and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer or Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch: both leaders of the main parties were mentioned just once apiece.

By contrast, Mr Farage was mentioned by name 30 times, Mr Trump 24 times and Mr Musk 10 times.

On X, the Reform leader said: “Just watching poor Ed Davey speak. He is obsessed with me. I am happy to pay for a psychiatrist.”