NICK Clegg has urged people to join Labour or the Conservatives to help avert Brexit.
The former Liberal Democrat leader admitted it sounded “odd” given his own party ties but said it was a way to put pressure on the parties in “a time of national emergency”.
He told people worried about leaving the EU to “make your voice heard”.
The former deputy Prime Minister, who lost his Sheffield Hallam seat to Labour in June, makes the suggestion in his new book, How to Stop Brexit.
In it, he writes: “How, you may ask, is it possible to influence a political party?
“How can you make your views known to Jeremy Corbyn?
“Here’s how: join the Labour party and make your voice heard.”
He adds: “If you are someone who has never joined a party, or perhaps has been inclined to join Labour but has never got round to it, or if you are simply someone who recognises that the importance of Brexit is far greater than individual.
"At a time of national emergency, and for as long as Parliament is dominated by Labour and Conservative MPs, it is undoubtedly true that what happens within the two larger establishment parties is of the greatest importance.
"So if you can't stomach joining the Labour Party, if you are ideologically inclined in a Conservative direction in any event and if you also believe that Brexit is the issue of our times, then joining the Conservatives is another route to make your views felt."
The June election was the most polarised since 1970, with 80 per cent of voters backing either Labour or the Tories, with the LibDems, Ukip and SNP being squeezed.
It was reported that Mr Clegg’s intervention had angered one senior LibDem, who told a newspaper he should think about “message discipline” not book sales.
A LibDem spokesman said: “Nick is a card-carrying Liberal Democrat and of course wants people to join the party – he is making a wider point that pro-Europeans of all political stripes need to stand up and be counted.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel