Liberal Democrat leader, /u/demon4372, today hinted at a reversal of position in relation to the Liberal Democrats’ federalisation policy. He told journalists that he would “accept the principle of the DDEA” - the Direct Democracy Enhancement Act - if legislation was to be passed calling for a referendum on the terms of federalism in the United Kingdom, before criticising the actions of key press figures, who he accused of “misrepresenting” comments to “fit their agenda”, in what can be considered a stunning attack on the press from a major party leader.

The comments were made at the Lib Dems’ weekly press conference on Monday night, in which /u/demon4372 fielded questions from journalists belonging to several press organisations, on a variety of issues. A key issue that was discussed at length was that of the Liberal Democrats’ continued policy of federalisation, which has come in for criticism in recent weeks due to revelations surfacing that the formula used to calculate financial distribution in the Federalisation Bill would remove devolved funding from Scotland. The Lib Dem leader immediately addressed these claims, stating that the formula in question was “the first draft of a replacement for the Barnett formula,” referring to the current formula used to distribute funding across the Home Nations, before stating that any comparisons to austerity measures were “laughable and ridiculous.”

/u/demon4372 was then questioned on the idea that the Federalisation Bill was being enforced on those it intended to serve, with the querying journalist stating that this assumption went “against the very premise that the system is built upon.” The Liberal Democrat leader pulled no punches in his response to this, decrying it as a “fundamental misunderstanding of the question at hand”, before referring to the legislation as “a reform of the entire UK constitutional order”, meaning that it would impact on the United Kingdom rather than simply affecting individual regions. /u/demon4372 was then asked by one of his own party members, /u/RickCall12, about whether he would seek to see the process of federalisation ratified in a referendum. The Lib Dem leader has typically been stubborn in his position on a federalism referendum, refusing it in more than one reading of the Federalisation Bill thus far. However, he appears to have softened his position slightly in recent weeks, stating in the conference that he would “accept the democratic procedures we have” and throw his support behind a referendum on this issue, should parliamentary legislation be passed to this end.

Furthermore, the leader of the Liberal Democrats was questioned further by the Times’ own /u/Yukub on the topic of federalisation, with the esteemed journalist asking whether the Federalisation APPG had come to a definitive conclusion with regards to the terms of federalised funding. The Liberal Democrat leader expressed the need for an “open and nuanced debate on the subject”, before launching into a tirade on what he perceived to be the “Tory media”, for initiating “partisan attacks” against those who support federalisation. /u/demon4372 then further cast scorn towards prominent members of the press, accusing the editor of the Monolith, /u/InfernoPlato of “showing complete contempt to the people of Scotland” by “producing biased and misrepresentative stories” about the Liberal Democrats over the course of the Holyrood campaign. He then stated that he “would not run scared from the public”, insinuating that the former Prime Minister had done so during his tenure at the helm of government.

Whilst this press conference may only have been routine, it produced several moments that were worthy of report in themselves, and it can certainly be stated that its contents will be debated and scrutinised for weeks to come.

For further news on the Lib Dem leader’s battle with the press, and other news relating to MHOC, keep reading /r/ModelTimes, the Model World’s fastest growing international news organisation!