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.”