Lib Dems Do Not ‘Accept’ ‘Farage’s Vision’ Brexit Vote, Will Fight Result

Tim Farron Stronger In Brexit
Geoff Caddick/Getty
Liam Deacon

The Liberal Democrat party has pledged to ignore the Brexit vote as part of their next general election campaign, positioning themselves as the party of the “48 per cent” who voted to remain inside the European Union (EU).

“Nigel Farage’s vision for Britain has won this vote, but it is not a vision I accept”, declared Lib Dem leader Tim Farron yesterday. “Even though the vote was close, the majority of British people want us to leave. But we refuse to give up on our beliefs”, he said.

Adding: “The British people deserve the chance not to be stuck with the appalling consequences of a Leave campaign that stoked that anger with the lies of Farage, Johnson and Gove.

“The Liberal Democrats will fight the next election on a clear and unequivocal promise to restore British prosperity and role in the world, with the United Kingdom in the European Union, not out”

The party has also coined the catchphrase “We are the 48%” in an attempt to capitalise on and galvanise the anti-Brexit vote, claiming that, “1,000s of people have joined… since the referendum”.

“Stand with the 16 million other people who voted for cooperation over isolation. Stand with us for a diverse, welcoming and open-hearted Britain”, the party adds.

More that 17 million people voted for Britain to leave the EU on Wednesday. The turnout was more that 72 per cent, and the margin of victory more that million.

Mr. Farron argued that his party’s proposition was justifiable in a democratic society as older people’s votes were somehow less valid and because a vote against the EU was really a vote against Westminster.

“This was not a vote on the European Union alone”, he said, but a “howl of anger” against politics.

“Years of frustration, dissatisfaction and people feeling ignored have been building to this point. Too often the European Union has been used as a distraction from failures in government”.

Adding: “The pressures on our schools, the pressures on our hospitals and GP surgeries… The insecurities from zero hours contracts, the housing crisis, the desertion of the industrial north, the expenses scandals and the banking crisis, these are all problems made in Westminster.

“No wonder people feel ignored and neglected by politics”.

“What stands out to me more than anything, is the great injustice to future generations”, he continued.

“It looks like younger voters voted to remain at a staggering margin – almost three-quarters wanting to stay in. Their future has been taken away by older generations.

“What a tragedy that older voters, the people who have been able to benefit from European integration, have removed the opportunity for those coming behind them.”

Last night one Labour MP, David Lammy, appeared to agree with the Liberal Democrats. Thursday’s national vote was “madness” and non-binding he said, insisting “our sovereign Parliament needs to now vote on whether we should quit the EU.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.