THE knives are out for LibDem leader Vince Cable amid claims he was at a secret dinner talking about setting up a new party when he missed a crucial vote in the House of Commons last week.
Cable has so far refused to say where he was during the vote, other than that he was attending a “confidential political meeting somewhere else”.
But a newspaper reported yesterday that instead of leading his current anti-Brexit party, and trying to defeat the pro-Brexit Government’s Brexit motion, Cable was away discussing how an anti-Brexit party might be able to defeat the Government’s Brexit motions.
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A LibDem source told the paper: “Sir Vince recognises that the centre ground has all but been abandoned by the two mainstream parties and was interested in exploring the idea of a new party.
“He is not implacably opposed to the idea but wanted to be reassured it will actually get off the ground.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, Cable denied he wanted to create a new party, though he also refused to say exactly who he was meeting and what was discussed.
Cable said he was sceptical of the case for setting up a new party. “I warn people who go around talking about new parties that under the first-past-the-post system this is often suicidal and silly,” he said.
“We’ve seen quite a lot of new parties being launched recently, and [they’ve] crashed and burned very quickly. It’s much better to work constructively with people in other parties.”
Asked if he would ever join a new party, he said he would not “because I’ve got a very good party of my own”.
But he seemed to float the possibility of some sort of future LibDem association with another group, saying: “The tensions building up in the Labour Party and the Conservative Party are so severe that it’s difficult to see them surviving in their present form, and we have to think ahead a little bit. And my party will play a key role in whatever happens.”
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Cable has recently enlisted the help of Tom Pitfield, a political strategist who worked on the campaigns of Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron.
But his dithering and underwhelming leadership has left colleagues considering a change at the top.
Reports suggest a secret meeting of activists is due to be held on Thursday when plans are expected to be discussed to replace the 75-year-old with a younger, more charismatic leader. When questioned about the speculation, Cable told the BBC he was still the only man for the job: “I think that’s ridiculous, actually.
“Unlike Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, for different reasons, I’m in the fortunate position of having a united, cohesive team of people. It’s the last thing I worry about.”
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Both Cable and former LibDem leader, Tim Farron, were absent on Monday night, when the government scraped single-figure majorities on two votes on the Brexit Trade Bill.
An SNP spokeswoman told The National: “Vince Cable’s second attempt at leadership of the Liberal Democrats has been so uninspiring that even he wants out.
“The only party providing effective opposition to the Tory Government in Westminster are the SNP – the LibDem and Labour opposition are nowhere to be seen, and as a result, they are enabling the Tories’ damaging Brexit agenda.”
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