In December 2016, he failed to renew his firearms licence on time for the shooting season. He had previously criticised young voters who had been unable to register to vote in the EU referendum because the government website crashed on the last day of registration, saying they should 'pay the price for their own tardiness'. Liddell-Grainger blamed the police for his licence delay, criticising their "utter incompetence". Following the incident, the satirical magazine "Private Eye", published an article that asked if the actions of the MP, coupled with his continued electoral success, meant that he was 'Somerset's answer to Donald Trump'.