Policy to revoke Article 50 was big mistake, says Lib Dem hopeful Moran
Liberal Democrat Layla Moran has announced she will run for the leadership of her party as she described its policy to revoke Article 50 on Brexit as a “big mistake”.
The education spokeswoman admitted it was “really worrying” that voters do not appear to know what the party stands for, adding: “The key question we have to answer now is: what are we for?” The Lib Dems went from having 21 MPS to 11 after December’s general election and party leader Jo Swinson lost her seat in Scotland.
Ms Moran told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “Yes, I will be standing for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats. I believe it’s time that we move on as a party and offer a positive vision for the country and I’m the right person to lead that change.”
The Oxford West and Abingdon MP said it was “really important that we listen and understand where we’ve been going wrong”.
She said: “They [voters] come back and say in the election ‘revoke’ was a big mistake because it felt very top-down, and actually cooperation is a key part of what we believe as Liberal Democrats and we need to earn their trust again.
“The other thing that worried them was that we were saying that we were going to be the party of the next government when in fact that wasn’t the case and we lost their trust again over that.”
Voters, she said, wanted to see a party focusing on equality of opportunity, education and the climate crisis, plus less tribal politics. Ms Moran said it was “absolutely right to be ambitious for the party”, adding that electoral reform was “one of the things that I think we need to keep pushing”. On the formation of the party’s policy to revoke Article 50, she said: “To move away from the People’s Vote, which I think would have worked in many parts of the country, was partly led by a lack of diversity of voices in that room.”
She added: “I do think we need to look very deeply at how we make big strategic decisions in the party and, as leader, I do think that that is something that would have to change.”