Lib Dem leader Vince Cable to blast 'erotic spasm' of Brexit in speech to party conference

Vince Cable speaking at a previous party conference - Image credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/PA Images

Vince Cable will accuse anti-EU MPs of putting the UK at risk in pursuit of the “erotic spasm” of Brexit.

In a speech to the Liberal Democrat conference, the party leader will condemn those who want to realise their “dreams” for the country at the risk of creating “nightmares for the rest of us”.

He will also urge Theresa May to back a referendum on her final Brexit deal, and lament: “When we feel sorry for the country’s prime minister, something is seriously wrong.”

Cable will make the comments in his speech closing the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton – at which the party pitched to centre-ground voters who want to stop Brexit.

He will say: “For the ‘true believers’ – the fundamentalists – the costs of Brexit have always been irrelevant.

“Years of economic pain justified by the erotic spasm of leaving the European Union.

“Economic pain felt – of course – not by them but by those least able to afford it.”

He will add: “The public don’t mind what these people dream about behind closed doors – so long as their dreams don’t become nightmares for the rest of us.

“It really beggars belief that the army and the police are now being asked to prepare for riots in the chaotic aftermath of a botched Brexit.

“And billions – billions – of taxpayers’ money spent preparing for disaster.”

And he will say: “I would go so far as to say that some of us are starting to feel sorry for the Prime Minister…

“She is dutifully delivering a policy she doesn’t really believe in; failing in negotiations; losing public support; and all to appease a dwindling group of angry people in her party who will denounce her as a traitor, whatever she comes up with.

“But when we feel sorry for the country’s prime minister, something is seriously wrong.”

Cable will urge Theresa May to “shock us all” by displaying “true leadership” and backing a so-called People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.

The speech could be the last for Vince Cable as Lib Dem leader, after he announced his intention to stand down when Brexit is either stopped or resolved.