Cable’s Brexit slur

Fury as Lib Dem leader blames result on older voters ‘nostalgic for a world where the faces were white’

SIR Vince Cable was denounced last night for claiming older Brexit voters were ‘driven by nostalgia’ for a world in which ‘faces were white’.

The Liberal Democrat leader accused the older generation of ‘crushing the hopes and aspirations of the young for years to come’.

Last night, Brexit supporters criticised the 74- year- old’s ‘grossly insulting’ attempt to ‘stain the characters’ of millions of Leave voters.

Sir Vince, whose party is campaigning for a referendum on the final Brexit deal, said: ‘I have myself been on a journey.

‘I confess that my own initial reaction to the referendum was to think maybe there was little choice but to pursue Brexit. I thought, you know, the public had voted to be poorer. Well, that was their right.

‘What changed my mind was the evidence that Brexit had overwhelmingly been the choice of the older generation. Seventy-five per cent of under-25s voted to remain. But 70 per cent of over-65s voted for Brexit.’

He added: ‘Too many were driven by a nostalgia for a world where passports were blue, faces were white, and the map was coloured imperial pink – their votes on one wet day in June crushing the hopes and aspirations of the young for years to come.’

Sir Vince warned the ‘toxic’ fall-out of the Brexit referendum is fuelling the rise of the populist Right in Britain.

In his keynote speech to his party’s spring conference in Southport, he said the divide created by the vote in June 2016 had left the country ‘mired in a civil war’.

He strongly criticised the ‘ poisonous rhetoric’ of the Brexiteers – including comments by Theresa May about ‘citizens of nowhere’ – which, he said, was only exacerbating the divisions.

Sir Vince appealed to critics of Brexit to unite behind the Lib Dems’ call for a second referendum on the final terms of the deal once they are known.

With the Government divided and confused over what it wanted to achieve in the negotiations, he said it was clear the EU would end up dictating the terms.

‘This will, in turn, create the sense of victimhood Brexiteers crave – being under the European yoke,’ he said.

‘Britain is now mired in a protracted, non- violent civil war. Allied to the poisonous rhetoric about “traitors” and “saboteurs” – and what Theresa May calls “citizens of nowhere” – we have a toxic brew which fuels the populist Right.

‘What a disgrace that the fool’s errand of Brexit embarked on to paper over cracks in the Conservative Party has resulted in hate crime on our streets.’ But Nigel Evans, the Tory MP for the Ribble Valley, said Sir Vince ‘should be ashamed’ of his attempt to ‘stain the characters’ of ‘decent, honest’ Brexit supporters.

He said: ‘I’m staggered that he could denigrate those who were older Leavers as racists, bigots and xenophobes.

‘It is grossly insulting that this anti- democrat who refuses to accept a democratic vote can try and stain the character of the millions who voted to Leave because they wanted to take control back.

‘This man is batting for Barnier and Brussels. Quite frankly, he should be ashamed of the views he is now espousing. It is absolutely appalling. Why doesn’t he move to Brussels where he might feel more at home?

‘The people in my constituency who voted Leave are the salt of the earth, decent, honest people who have worked all their lives, paid their taxes and believe in democracy. It is just awful to attack them in this way.’

Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford, said: ‘Sir Vince Cable should apologise for his remarks.

‘He has just insulted the very people who gave us the nation we have today – a free and prosperous society, a country with a proud history as well as an exciting future.

‘The post-war generation were wise enough to judge that Britain’s future depends on the UK being a global, outward looking nation and voted in the interests of future generations, unlike Sir Vince who has placed himself the wrong side of history with his obsession with the EU.

‘It seems the Liberal Democrats are neither liberal nor democratic in seeking to undermine Brexit.’

‘It is grossly insulting’