Europhile Cable hits out at the ‘politics of fear’

THE former business secretary Sir Vincent Cable has attacked the “politics of fear” employed by the Remain camp and claimed its plan to mimic the victorious Better Together campaign in the Scottish referendum had backfired.

Sir Vince, one of the most senior Liberal Democrats in the 2010-15 Coalition Government, hit out as Leave secured victory.

The Remain supporter said the close-run nature of the result will mean “the authority of the Government is going to be considerably weakened,” and spoke of “reservations” about “some of the techniques” used by the pro-EU side.

Sir Vince, who lost his Westminster seat at last year’s General Election, said: “The politics of fear were used in the General Election against people like me and in Scotland before that, and I think there was an assumption it would work here and it may not have been.”

Speaking with the final result still unclear, he told the BBC that even if Remain wins by a small margin the authority of the Government “will be considerably weakened”.

He added that with Scotland voting to remain in the EU, but the majority of the UK on course to vote against, he said there would be a “legal quagmire lasting for years” over whether Scotland would be able to deal with Europe in terms of imports and exports, and what sort of relationship it would have with the EU.

Sir Vince, who rose to prominence for his surefooted handling of the banking crisis and economic downturn, has previously warned of a “financial meltdown” on the markets in the event of a Leave vote.

Speaking just before the Leave decision was confirmed, Sir Vince suggested decisive action was now needed from the Government to protect people’s investments.

Reflecting on the campaign, Lord Ashdown, the former LibDems’ leader, said: “I think there has been a bit too much hyperbole. I’m not sure the political class has covered itself in glory in this and I suspect we have an electorate that is more confused than it needs to be.”