VINCE Cable believes a no-deal Brexit is “highly implausible” and the fear of it is being used by the UK Government like Britain’s nuclear arsenal - as an ultimate deterrent.
The intervention came as the Liberal Democrat leader promoted this Saturday’s People’s Vote rally in London, which is expected to draw more than 100,000 people from the four corners of the UK.
Speakers are expected to include Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, Labour’s Chukka Umunna, Conservative Remainer MP Anna Soubry and the Greens’ Caroline Lucas.
It is believed Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, has been approached to give a speech but has declined the offer while mention has been made of the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon giving a video message to the rally. But this was not confirmed by the SNP.
Celebrities involved in the weekend event include the actor Sir Patrick Stewart and TV cook Delia Smith.
“We see this as an all-Britain event,” declared Sir Vince, stressing how it was also all-party.
“We know of 50 coaches and there are many more coming from different parts of the country…We know there are people coming from the Highlands of Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen,” he explained.
It is thought many of the coaches from Scotland are being organised by the students’ campaign For Future’s Sake and attendance is concentrated on university campuses.
Acknowledging that Theresa May had repeatedly insisted she would never facilitate a second referendum on the EU, the Lib Dem leader stressed how the Prime Minister had done u-turns before and could do so again.
“We do know there are people in her entourage, who are saying: ‘For God’s sake, this is your best chance of getting this thing through.' Because she is being blocked on the one hand by the Opposition and on the other by a lot of [the Tories’] ERG supporters. If she wants to get this deal landed, going to the country and offering what she would present as a middle-way alternative might have a certain appeal.”
Asked if he knew what would happen if there were a no-deal, Sir Vince said: “I know we are all being frightened by this no-deal talk, it’s a little bit like talking about nuclear weapons; they’re not designed to be used and the chances of it happening are fairly remote…A no-deal is highly implausible in practice because neither the EU nor the British Government want one.”
Sir Vince argued that the EU was not under enormous pressure to back down and that meant the British Government would have to.
“One way of them doing it could be drastically changing tack on the referendum,” he added.
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