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People’s vote on Brexit is live option, Cable tells Barnier Prepare for 'people's vote' rather than no deal, Cable tells Barnier
(about 3 hours later)
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable, has urged Michel Barnier to stop talking up a no-deal Brexit and instead make public his contingency plans for a second referendum. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable, urged Michel Barnier to stop talking up a no-deal Brexit and instead make contingency plans for a second referendum after the EU’s chief negotiator admitted that a parliamentary impasse in the UK was standing in the way of a deal.
Speaking before a meeting with the EU’s chief negotiator, Cable suggested both the government and Brussels had been emphasising the danger of the UK crashing out in order to sell a “bad deal” to parliament. Cable said the government and Brussels had up until now been emphasising the danger of the UK crashing out in order to sell a “bad deal” to parliament.
The former business secretary said a so-called people’s vote was now an increasingly viable way to solve the logjam in parliament, and Brussels needed to change its approach. But the former business secretary told Barnier during a meeting in Brussels that the so-called people’s vote was gathering support across the political spectrum, and the European commission needed to ready itself for the eventuality.
On Saturday nearly 700,000 people marched on parliament to demand a second referendum on Brexit. It was the biggest outpouring of public opposition to government policy since the anti-Iraq war protest in 2003. Emerging from an hour-long meeting, Cable said it was clear that the former French minister had a keen grip on the political situation in Westminster.
Cable said: “My main message is that a people’s vote is a very live political option. I want to know that the commission is doing some contingency work. We know that they are doing contingency work for a breakdown. They should be doing the same for a people’s vote.” Barnier was said to have told Cable that he recognised that the major hurdle standing in the way of a deal was the impossible parliamentary arithmetic facing the prime minister.
“The UK needs to come up with something that meets their requirements,” Cable said of his conversation with Barnier. “It’s very clear really: it is a British problem rather than one on the European side.”
But Cable, who was meeting the EU official with the leader of the SNP in Westminster, Ian Blackford, and representatives of Plaid Cymru and the Greens, said the message to Barnier was that there was no way out of the logjam, and that the strength of support for a second referendum was growing daily.
Cable said: “My main message was that a people’s vote is a very live political option. I wanted to know that the commission is doing some contingency work. He said that he was the negotiator and this was a matter for the commission, and no doubt the message will be passed on. He obviously had an very clear understanding of what was happening in the UK.”
A joint statement from the British politicians attending the meeting said: “With sensible politicians from all parties uniting, we pointed out to Mr Barnier that there is a genuine cross-party consensus that our exit from the European Union must not be assumed.”
The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said on Thursday that the moment was coming where businesses would have to assume there would be no deal.The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said on Thursday that the moment was coming where businesses would have to assume there would be no deal.
He said at a press conference: “If this lack of a solution continues, and approaches the end date, the private sector itself will have to prepare on the assumption that it will be a hard Brexit. That’s where there will be financial uneasiness in markets.” He said: “If this lack of a solution continues, and approaches the end date, the private sector itself will have to prepare on the assumption that it will be a hard Brexit. That’s where there will be financial uneasiness in markets.”
Cable said he was “not convinced by the Armageddon solution”. “I would play down the possibility of a no-deal and I think there is an element of the government and the Europeans talking this up to sell a bad deal,” he said. Cable said he was “not convinced by the Armageddon solution”. He added: “I would play down the possibility of a no-deal and I think there is an element of the government and the Europeans talking this up to sell a bad deal.”
Cable conceded that an extension of the two years of negotiating time allowed under article 50 would probably be necessary to allow a second referendum to take place.Cable conceded that an extension of the two years of negotiating time allowed under article 50 would probably be necessary to allow a second referendum to take place.
“But if there is a will to make it happen, it will happen. We know that the British government has been preparing because that has been reported, and when I asked Theresa May she declined the opportunity to deny it. I want to hear what the commission is doing.”“But if there is a will to make it happen, it will happen. We know that the British government has been preparing because that has been reported, and when I asked Theresa May she declined the opportunity to deny it. I want to hear what the commission is doing.”
Cable said he did not believe attempts by Tory whips to convince Labour MPs to support a deal or else face a no-deal would work. Cable said he did not believe attempts by Tory whips to convince Labour MPs to support a deal or else face a no-deal Brexit would work.
“I can’t speak for Jeremy Corbyn but they are not going to prop up the Conservatives and while I know that they are trying to nobble individual Labour MPs, I don’t get the impression they are making much headway,” he said.“I can’t speak for Jeremy Corbyn but they are not going to prop up the Conservatives and while I know that they are trying to nobble individual Labour MPs, I don’t get the impression they are making much headway,” he said.
“We have a 100 MPs, including 40 Labour MPs and eight Tories, now in support of a people’s vote and it is like an iceberg. There are a lot of others who will be willing to support us as a way out of this mess.”“We have a 100 MPs, including 40 Labour MPs and eight Tories, now in support of a people’s vote and it is like an iceberg. There are a lot of others who will be willing to support us as a way out of this mess.”
Cable was meeting Barnier in the European commission headquarters in Brussels with the leader of the SNP in Westminster, Ian Blackford. Joining the meeting were Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru Westminster leader, and Molly Scott Cato, a Green party MEP for the south-west of England and Gibraltar.
BrexitBrexit
Michel BarnierMichel Barnier
Vince CableVince Cable
Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
Foreign policyForeign policy
European UnionEuropean Union
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