'Arrogant and illiberal' Vince Cable skewered for pushing for second Brexit referendum
The Liberal Democrat leader was grilled by Emma Barnett during BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour about his proposed plans to hold a second referendum on the terms agreed by the UK with the European Union. She asked the former Secretary of State for Business: “Is that not terribly illiberal of you and rather arrogant to say something which flouts the will of the people? “You remain committed to the idea of a second referendum on the terms of the deal. But if we just look at the evidence that was one of the key plans of Tim Farron’s Liberal Democrats campaign during the general election, didn’t really fly. The Liberal Democrats' vote share was 7.4 per cent. That’s down from 23 per cent in 2010. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement of this plan.”
BBC Emma Barnett said that attempts to flout the will of the British people are "illiberal"
Mr Cable claimed the new vote would not be whether to remain in the EU or not, but a vote to help the British people avoid an "extreme form of Brexit". He said: "Well, the will of the people was a simple, binary choice by a very narrow majority. The proposition that was put forward that Brexit means Brexit is palpably not the case. "There are numerous ways in which Brexit could happen and the will of the people did not clarify that and that’s why we’re having this argument.” The Lib-Dems leader said he was trying to mobilise not only members of his own party, but also other politicians who share in the idea a hard Brexit would not work for Britain.