Lib Dems announce crime agency plan

The Liberal Democrats will announce a new Online Crime Agency at their Brighton conference on Monday, funded by taxing large AI and technology companies.

Agency targets multiple online offences

The Online Crime Agency will focus on child sexual abuse material, trafficking in drugs and weapons, and deepfake AI-generated pornographic images, according to home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson.

Two hundred fifty million pound budget

The planned budget of two hundred fifty million pounds a year would be paid for by an online crime levy on large AI and technology companies.

Wilkinson says tech firms must pay

Max Wilkinson will tell the conference it is time big tech companies picked up the bill for offences they had enabled through their platforms.

“time they picked up the bill”

Voters unaware of Lib Dem policies

Polling by More in Common showed just thirty nine percent of voters said they had an idea what the Lib Dems stood for, lower than every other major party including Restore Britain.

Lib Dems lag in voter contact

Just sixteen percent of voters said they had heard from the Lib Dems in recent months, against sixty six percent for Reform, while three percent had seen Ed Davey on social media compared with twenty percent for Nigel Farage.

Davey defends party's achievements

Ed Davey said the Lib Dems were making genuine change, pointing to winning council elections for eight years in a row, something that had never happened before.

“I'm talking about real change, not just talking about the bubbles”

Party seeks clearer national message

Some Lib Dem MPs say the party needs a message for the whole country, not just parts of it, with Tom Gordon noting the party holds just four of fifty eight southern seats in the north of England.

“If we want to be a party of government, then we need to have a message for the whole country, not just parts of it”