{"id":324621,"date":"2025-12-19T12:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T12:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/324621\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T12:38:08","slug":"lib-dems-call-for-inquiry-into-hostile-foreign-state-interference-to-include-us-liberal-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/324621\/","title":{"rendered":"Lib Dems call for inquiry into hostile foreign state interference to include US | Liberal Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"

An inquiry into interference by hostile foreign states in the UK should be extended to cover the actions of Donald Trump\u2019s US, the Liberal Democrats<\/a> have said.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the communities secretary, Steve Reed, whose department is leading on the independent review, the Lib Dems said the US government\u2019s explicit support for far-right nationalist parties in Europe<\/a> amounted to outside interference.<\/p>\n

The US national security strategy<\/a>, set out this month, said Europe faces \u201ccivilisational erasure\u201d due to migration and EU integration, and that Washington should \u201ccultivate resistance\u201d within the continent.<\/p>\n

The document used language echoing the racist \u201cgreat replacement\u201d conspiracy theory<\/a>, saying several countries risked becoming \u201cmajority non-European\u201d, and praised the \u201cgrowing influence of patriotic European parties\u201d.<\/p>\n

The inquiry into the effect of financial influence and other interference is expected to primarily focus on Russia and similar hostile states. It was announced on Tuesday after the jailing of Nathan Gill,<\/a> a former senior figure in Reform UK.<\/p>\n

In the letter to Reed, Calum Miller, the Lib Dems\u2019 foreign affairs spokesperson, Lisa Smart, the party\u2019s Cabinet Office spokesperson, and Z\u00f6e Franklin, who shadows Reed, praised the inquiry and said foreign interference in the UK was \u201ca real and growing threat\u201d.<\/p>\n

It read: \u201cThough the impetus for this investigation follows grave concerns about the extent of Russia\u2019s penetration of our political system, we must be clear-eyed too about the threat of interference now posed by the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn his recent national security strategy, President Trump outlined the US\u2019s new policy of \u2018cultivating resistance\u2019 within Europe. This reflects nothing less than an explicit call for interference in European politics \u2013 including our own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill the government commit, therefore, to including the US administration \u2013 including President Trump and his associates \u2013 in the scope of its investigation? Anything less would constitute an egregious blindspot in our efforts to ensure British politics is free from outside manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lib Dems have repeatedly sought to push Keir Starmer\u2019s government to take a more robust stance against a US president who, polling shows, is unpopular with many UK voters.<\/p>\n

In September, during Trump\u2019s second state visit to the UK Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, boycotted a state banquet hosted by King Charles in honour of the US president as a protest against what Davey said was a failure to intervene decisively to end the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

In a separate statement, Miller said: \u201cDonald Trump has made it his explicit policy to interfere in European politics and \u2018cultivate resistance\u2019 in the UK and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailure to include Trump\u2019s government as part of this new probe would be deeply irresponsible and would leave a gaping hole in our defences against the manipulation of our politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quick GuideContact us about this storyShow\"\"<\/p>\n

The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.<\/p>\n

If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.<\/p>\n

Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/p>\n

The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n

If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. <\/p>\n

SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post<\/p>\n

If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, our guide at theguardian.com\/tips<\/a>\u00a0lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration: Guardian Design \/ Rich Cousins<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An inquiry into interference by hostile foreign states in the UK should be extended to cover the actions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-324621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}