Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sir Keir Starmer should not cave in to Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cbullying\u201d by lowering the UK\u2019s Digital Services Tax, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has warned, arguing the US president is \u201can unreliable ally\u201d.Sir Ed Davey said the prime minister was making a mistake with his friendly approach to Trump in the hope of sparing Britain from punitive trade measures, arguing that \u201cTrump will put tariffs on us regardless\u201d. \u201cHe\u2019s not sentimental\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009he can change his mind at a moment\u2019s notice,\u201d Davey said in an interview with the Financial Times. \u201cHe\u2019s an unreliable ally.\u201dThe Lib Dem leader said any move to soften the UK\u2019s digital services tax on companies such as Alphabet and Facebook would be \u201cwrong\u201d. The FT reported this week the UK and US were discussing the levy as part of trade talks.\u201cTo cut it would be giving in to Trump bullying,\u201d he said. Davey instead called for Labour to increase the digital services tax to pay for Starmer\u2019s pledge to increase defence spending.The Lib Dems have carved out a niche as the UK party that is openly and aggressively criticising the new US administration and banging the drum for old school globalisation. \u201cIf you\u2019re interested in the economy of the UK and the security of the UK, we\u2019re the only party addressing those real issues,\u201d Davey said.Davey, who leads the UK\u2019s third-largest party in Westminster with 72 MPs, said Britain should pursue a new strategic grouping with Australia, New Zealand and Canada \u2014 dubbed \u201cCANZUK\u201d.The grouping would focus on enhanced intelligence sharing, increased trade and greater co-operation around foreign and defence policy, Davey said.He conceded that such an allegiance \u201cmight annoy [Trump] but\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009he respects people who have got some strength\u201d.Speaking ahead of the Lib Dems\u2019 spring conference in Harrogate this weekend, Davey criticised chancellor Rachel Reeves\u2019 \u201cdisappointing\u201d fiscal decisions and touted his ambition to beat Reform UK in May\u2019s local elections.The Lib Dem leader has long called for a rapprochement with Europe, including calling on the UK to rejoin the customs union by the end of the decade, arguing that the economic bounty from any such deal with Europe would \u201cmore than make up\u201d for the hit from future tariffs imposed by Trump.\u00a0\u00a0He added that it was a \u201chuge missed opportunity\u201d that the UK, along with the US and Turkey, would be excluded from a new \u20ac150bn EU defence fund unless it signed a defence and security pact with Brussels. Though the UK has lobbied hard to be included in the fund, talks have been held up by demands for a larger EU-UK agreement that would also include controversial issues such as fishing rights and migration.\u201cIf we\u2019re getting cut out because we haven\u2019t been fast enough to develop the defence and security pact, that is just such a mistake,\u201d Davey said.Davey also argued that Starmer should be much more aggressive at using Trump\u2019s proposed state visit to the UK as leverage to win concessions on America\u2019s treatment of Ukraine and Canada.\u201cI\u2019m not one of those who wants to sort of randomly protest. What I do want to do is make sure we stand up for our values, stand up for our allies and stand up for our national interest,\u201d he said.He said it was a mis-step for Starmer not to threaten retaliatory tariffs on the US after Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on British steel and aluminium imports, and reiterated his call for a specific tariff on Elon Musk\u2019s electric vehicle company Tesla. Musk called Davey a \u201csnivelling cretin\u201d earlier this year.Starmer has made successive mistakes internationally and at home, Davey said, including cutting winter fuel payments, slashing the budget for overseas aid and the \u201crushed\u201d decision to cut welfare payments announced this week. \u201cLabour have\u2009.\u2009.\u2009. been so disappointing in government, they\u2019re really struggling.\u201d\u201cIf Starmer chooses to ape [Reform UK leader Nigel] Farage, he will lose the next election,\u201d Davey warned. \u201cFarage is a divider of people and we need a politic that builds consensus, to bring people together.\u201dDavey said he believed the Lib Dems could win the new mayoralty of Hull and East Yorkshire at local elections in May, along with scores of seats in new strongholds such as Devon, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Wiltshire. But the party will have stiff competition in Hull from Reform, which has been eyeing up the seat for months and is the bookies\u2019 favourite to win.\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019re in front of people, knocking on doors, the support for Farage just dissipates,\u201d Davey said.\u00a0Davey argued that any future electoral pact between the Tories and Reform would be a boon for the Lib Dems. \u201cYou\u2019d see a lot of people who previously voted Conservative \u2014 even at the last election \u2014 coming to us,\u201d he said, referring to moderate Tory voters who would be unwilling to countenance voting for a party with Farage in a leadership role. \u201cIf the right think they can act like generals moving voters here and there, they\u2019re going to get a nasty surprise.\u201d Whatever happens, Davey said he would be leading the Lib Dems into the next general election, expected in 2029. \u201cI\u2019m not standing down, that\u2019s for sure \u2014 this is a very exciting moment for the Liberal Democrats,\u201d he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sir Keir Starmer should not cave in to Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cbullying\u201d by lowering the UK\u2019s Digital Services Tax, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has warned,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-248722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}