Ed Davey takes aim at Reform and Elon Musk as Lib Dem conference begins

Leader says party ‘won’t give up the fight’ to defeat ‘nasty populism’ in first-day speech to delegates in Brighton

The Liberal Democrats’ leader, Sir Ed Davey, took aim at Nigel Farage and Elon Musk on the first day of his party’s annual conference, saying Lib Dems would not give up the fight to defeat “nasty populism” and Reform UK’s “£72m arsenal of hate and lies”.

On stage at Brighton Centre, Davey called on the assembled delegates not to be deterred in the face of Reform’s hope “that the anger and the hatred and the lies will grind us down until eventually we just give up”.