Sir Vince Cable launched a vicious attack on Brexit ministers today as he used his first party conference speech as leader to condemn them as too stupid to deliver.
The Liberal Democrat leader said Brexit Secretary David Davis had himself described the talks as on the same scale as the moon landing.
And he jibed Mr Davis and his team were ‘people who would struggle to get their heads around a toddlers’ Lego set’.
Sir Vince accused Brexit voters of being ‘masochists’ who are revelling in imposing the ‘pain’ of quitting the EU on modern Britain.
He said the Liberal Democrats demanded a new referendum giving voters the choice between accepting the deal and revoking Article 50 – and claimed the Lib Dems would eventually be proved right about Brexit in the same way as on Iraq.
The new leader used today’s speech to hint at a policy agenda that will crackdown on oligarchs buying new homes in Britain, tax wealth and borrow billions for new infrastructure.
Sir Vince Cable (pictured today delivering his speech) has launched a furious attack on Brexit and condemned both Labour and Tory politicians
Sir Vince Cable (pictured delivering his speech today) launched a vicious attack on Brexit ministers today as he used his first party conference speech as leader to condemn them as too stupid to deliver
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Jo Swinson (left today) were among those applauding the speech from Sir Vince to conference in Bournemoutb
Sir Vince announced challenged his activists to come up with new policy ideas to take back into Government as he lashed Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn as unable to deliver.
And he used his first speech as party leader to reveal more of his personal story, discussing his parents in York, his time in Kenya as a young official and the death of his first wife.
A source could to David Davis told MailOnline: ‘Given Vince Cable’s idea of intelligence is capitulation to the Commission, I’m glad he disagrees with us.’
Senior Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told MailOnline the speech was ‘sadly defeatist and undemocratic’ as a backlash began against the Lib Dem chief.
Tory MP Michael Fabricant was stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the new reality.
He said: ‘Vince Cable enjoys casting personal insults but fails to recognise his own bovine weakness: an inability to recognise the world has changed, the people have voted and they rejected both his party and membership of the EU.’
Sir Vince’s speech in Bournemouth said:
- The Liberal Democrats want a new referendum on Brexit to offer voters a choice of the final deal and revoking Article 50 and staying in the EU
- He lashes Theresa May’s Brexit ministers as people who live in a world of ‘infantile fairy tales’
- And he claimed the Lib Dems would be proven right about Brexit in the same way as Charles Kennedy was over Iraq
- Cable renews his attack on the US President Donald Trump and demands the planned state visit be called off
- He defended the party’s record in Government and insisted the Tories could not take credit for Lib Dem achievements
- The Lib Dem leader said his front bench had vastly more Government experience than their Labour counterparts and are better placed to replace the Tories
- And he discusses the long struggle of his political and personal life, including the death of his first wife Olympia in 2009
As he launched his attack on Brexit Britain, Sir Vince said: ‘Quite simply, Brexit Britain will be poorer and weaker than if we had decided to stay in Europe.
‘Brexit was described by the Brexit Secretary himself as an operation of such technical complexity that it makes the moon landing look simple.
‘I have to say it is a pity that the Brexit landing is being managed by people who would struggle to get their heads around a toddlers’ Lego set.
‘These are people who live in a world of infantile fairy tales.’
The Lib Dem leader compared Cabinet differences on Brexit with a public school pillow fight.
He warned: ‘A disaster looms – Brexit.
‘The product of a fraudulent and frivolous campaign led by two groups of silly public school boys reliving their dormitory pillow fights.’
Sir Vince said Brexit Secretary David Davis (pictured in Downing Street last week) had described the Brexit talks as being as challenging as the moon landing – before insisting he was no equipped to tackle them
The Lib Dem leader said he was ready to be denounced as a ‘saboteur’ by Brexit ideologues
He joked: ‘I’m half prepared for a spell in a cell with Supreme Court judges, Gina Miller, Ken Clarke, and the governors of the BBC.
‘But if the definition of sabotage is fighting to protect British jobs, public services, the environment and civil liberties, then I am a proud saboteur.’
In remarks that will enrage the leaders of the Brexit battle, Sir Vince openly sneered at the people who voted Leave.
He claimed: ‘I am already getting a colourful correspondence from people of my own generation claiming that I have betrayed them.
‘That I have given up too easily on reinventing the British Empire and on the dream of Britain without foreigners.
‘I am still struggling, actually, to think of an answer to the woman who challenged me, in all seriousness, to explain how her Wiltshire village would cope with the arrival of 60 million Turks.
‘Now I recognise that the true believers in Brexit are honest enough to admit that it will make us poorer. There is another word for that: masochism.’
Sir Vince said the Liberal Democrats wanted a second referendum that offered the choice between the final deal and revoking Article 50.
Activists at the conference in Bournemouth had a selection of merchandise available to take home to remember the conference
Discount general election mugs featuring Tim Farron are on sale at the conference exhibition
The party has used this week’s conference in Bournemouth to make clear it is ready to return to Government after the lashing it received at the end of the coalition.
And sources close to Sir Vince insisted there was no reason the unashamedly pro-EU platform would not earn dividends before the 2022 election.
The source cited Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau and answered ‘why not’ when asked if there could be 350 Liberal Democrat MPs.
In his speech, Sir Vince said: ‘My role as your leader is to be a credible alternative Prime Minister.
‘I know some of you might say, looking at the alternatives, that the bar isn’t very high.
‘Theresa May is giving us a compelling display of weak and wobbly government: divided, dysfunctional, and dependent on the Democratic Unionist Party.
‘I guess that is why a current leading candidate for the succession is, according to bookmakers, Jacob Rees-Mogg – on a dream ticket with his nanny.
‘Then we have the Labour Party. I do have one great advantage over Jeremy Corbyn. I have a great team: our Shadow Cabinet has 10 former ministers, 3 of whom served in Cabinet.
‘My team has been bloodied in the difficult business of government.
‘By contrast, in a parliamentary party of 262 MPs, Jeremy Corbyn can find only two people who have been anywhere near Cabinet.’
He denounced the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of trying to face both ways on Brexit.
Sir Vince said the loss of his first wife Olympia had been a huge blow in 2009.
But he said the trauma and then finding love again with his second wife Rachel had taught him the value of patience and persistence.
The Lib Dem chief told activists: ‘I reflect on one of the most difficult periods of my life, when many of you will know that I lost my first wife.
‘In time, I recovered and I found a new partnership with Rachel. She has sustained and supported me ever since. Her energy and dedication to me is the source of my energy and dedication to this party.
‘And politics has proved an even greater waiting game than life. I had to wait 30 years from my first campaign to win a seat in Parliament. I had to wait two years to return, after the setback in 2015.
‘But now, friends, the time for waiting is over.’
CABLE: ‘HOMES ARE FOR LIVING IN – NOT PIECES ON A MONOPOLY BOARD’
Sir Vince Cable signalled support for a massive new house building programme (file image)
Vince Cable today signalled an assault on second home ownership.
In a conference speech setting out the Lib Dems are prepared to return to Government after the scars of coalition, Sir Vince said a dramatic increase in housing supply are needed.
Speaking to party activists in Bournemouth he said: ‘Homes are to live in; they’re not pieces on a Monopoly board.
‘But whatever we do with existing homes will not be enough. A doubling of annual housing supply to buy and rent is needed.
‘For years politicians have waffled about house building while tinkering at the edges of the market.
‘I want to recapture the pioneering spirit that in the mid-20th century brought about developments like Milton Keynes and the new towns.
‘I want to see a new generation of garden cities and garden villages spring up in places where demand presently outstrips supply.’
He added: ‘Home ownership, which spread wealth for generations, is no longer a realistic prospect for younger people with moderate means.
‘To put this right, we must end the stranglehold of oligarchs and speculators in our housing market.
‘I want to see fierce tax penalties on the acquisition of property for investment purposes, by overseas residents.’
‘If we do more of this we’ll be more popular’, says Lib Dem grandee as party’s infamous Glee Club sings ‘Tony Blair f*** off and die’
Hundreds of Lib Dem activists were last night told to spend more time in their infamous Glee Club if they want to win electoral approvals.
Lib Dem grandee Sir Simon Hughes joked at the packed gathering on the fringes of the party conference in Bournemouth the eccentric sing-a-long was the key to success.
Sir Simon failed to win back his Bermondsey constituency at June’s general election.
The extraordinary annual event often causes controversy as activists sing satirical and spoof songs with special Liberal Democrat lyrics.
Several of the entries in the ‘Liberator’ song book can be seen as abusive – including one famous song called ‘Tony Blair F*** *** and Die’ that is sung to the tune of American Pie.
Grandee Sir Simon Hughes (pictured centre with members of the Southwark Lib Dem party) joked at Glee Club on the fringes of the conference in Bournemouth the eccentric party was the key to success
The booze-fuelled party, which took place on the final night of this year’s party conference, also saw party members sing the ‘Ode to Charlie’.
The controversial lyrics, first produced after Charles Kennedy died due to complications from alcoholism, concludes: ‘Charlie is pissed again.’
Another song performed at the 2017 edition included ‘Country Garden’ which mocks David Cameron over allegations in a book by Lord Ashcroft about his student days and a pig.
Several of the entries in the ‘Liberator’ song book (pictured left) can be seen as abusive. One song performed last night is ‘Country Garden’ (right) which mocks David Cameron
EMPLOYERS WHO BOOST MENTAL HEALTH SHOULD GET TAX BREAKS
Employers who improve mental health should be given tax breaks, Norman Lamb has said.
The Liberal Democrat health spokesman called for business rates to be cut for companies who take concrete steps to to improve workplace wellbeing.
Mr Lamb, who was speaking at the party’s conference in Bournemouth, said there needed to be a shift to focus on prevention.
Norman Lamb called for better mental health provision at conference today pictured)
He told members: ‘We now know that children who suffer trauma or neglect in early years have a higher risk of poor health, low educational attainment, worklessness and often fall into the criminal justice system.
‘We let these most vulnerable children down horribly. And it costs the state a fortune.
‘Yet we know that intervening before the trauma has set in, working with parents, we can transform lives – so let’s do it. Make the big investment. It will pay off.’