Cable red-faced as his ‘pathetic’ poll stunt backfires

SIR Vince Cable was accused of a ‘pathetic’ attempt to interfere in Brexit yesterday by falsely claiming that eight EU leaders backed a second referendum.

The Lib Dem leader was humiliated after they said it was a botched PR stunt.

It comes days after Sir Vince, 74, faced a backlash for claiming that older Brexit voters were driven by nostalgia for a world in which ‘faces were white’.

The latest furore began when he claimed the eight prime ministers had agreed to back a British vote on the final Brexit deal.

Sir Vince said the group had sent a ‘clear signal’ by supposedly agreeing to a joint statement published by the Lib Dems.

The Lib Dems said it was signed by leaders of the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and the Netherlands at a lunch in Brussels before yesterday’s EU leaders summit. But Belgian PM Charles Michel was not even present.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group responded that ‘no statement has been agreed upon or released’.

And Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said the issue ‘is up to the UK itself and UK politicians’.

A diplomat working for one of the countries involved said: ‘Why in the world would we do something like that? It looks pathetic.’

They said the leaders gave their backing to Sir Vince but stopped short of weighing into UK politics.

The Lib Dem leader accompanied the declaration with the statement: ‘This is a clear signal... that they want us to remain.’

Tory former cabinet minister Priti Patel accused Sir Vince of trying to ‘subvert democracy’.