Sir Ed Davey has said he is not worried that Elon Musk could sue him after he branded the tech billionaire a “criminal”.
The Liberal Democrat leader said “no” when pressed by Sky News as to whether he would like to retract calling the Tesla owner a criminal.
Sir Ed continued to insist there was evidence that Mr Musk’s platform X has broken rules under the Online Safety Act but that it is for Ofcom and the authorities to prosecute such cases, and that he is not “prejudging the courts”.
He said he was not worried about the prospect of Mr Musk suing over the comments when asked about reports the chief executive of the Lib Dems has been meeting with lawyers over Sir Ed’s comments.
“If he… sues me, let’s see how he fares, because I don’t think he’ll win,” he said.
The Lib Dems’ foreign affairs spokesman, Calum Miller, meanwhile told reporters the parties would deal with any future legal threats from Mr Musk.
“I don’t think we’re going to be cowed by Elon Musk threatening Ed or any other member of this party when there is a criticism that is justified,” he added.
Elsewhere, Sir Ed also continued his criticism of Nigel Farage, telling broadcaster GB News: “He is a threat to our country and to our democracy.
“What he wants to do, and that’s why he looks a bit like Donald Trump, is he wants to bring Trump’s America to the United Kingdom.”
With several events at the Lib Dem conference largely focused on criticism of Mr Farage, Sir Ed insisted to the BBC he was “not frightened” of Reform.
In an interview with the public broadcaster, Sir Ed got into a row with political editor Chris Mason over its coverage of Reform UK.
The Lib Dem leader had accused the public broadcaster of having given Reform less scrutiny than other political parties, going as far as to claim it had “copy-and-pasted” their press releases in online articles.
Pressed by the BBC that this attack on the media was Trumpian, Sir Ed replied: “No, I don’t think we are.
“And what we’re saying when we talk about Trump and Trump’s America is the way he’s shutting down the media, actually using his regulations to shut down the media.”
Speaking to the PA news agency on the penultimate day of the Lib Dem conference, Sir Ed suggested his party could win “way more” than 100 seats in the next general election.
“My prediction is: we will be the big surprise of the next election,” he said.
Lib Dem strategists believe that with the political landscape now in flux, they could stand to be one of the main beneficiaries.
The Lib Dems’ campaigning machine believes there is a hard ceiling on the number of people who will vote for Reform UK as support for Labour and the Tories fall.
Their own potential to win over broad voter coalitions in individual constituencies is less restricted, the Lib Dem operation believes.
Also at the conference, the Lib Dems set out their plans to bolster the protection of children online on Monday, with cigarette-style health warnings on social media apps.
Foreign affairs spokesman Mr Miller meanwhile said that ministers should be barred from lobbying on behalf of foreign leaders in order to “Trump-proof” British politics in future.
The Government should refer itself for an ethics probe after pressing a golf governing body, the R&A, to hold the next Open at Donald Trump’s Turnberry course, he said.
