Lib Dems pledge to revoke Article 50 if they win election
But candidates in Leave areas worry that the focus on Europe could cost the party seats
The Liberal Democrats have doubled down on their pitch as Britain’s “party of Remain”, voting at their party conference on Sunday to cancel Brexit if they came to power at the next election — without recourse to a second referendum
Jo Swinson, the new party leader, claimed on Sunday she could be Britain’s next prime minister and that she wanted to revoke Article 50 and scrap Brexit in the unlikely event she was running the country in the near future.
That policy was endorsed by party activists, sharpening the election dividing line with Labour, whose contorted Brexit position involves supporting a second EU referendum but refusing to say whether it would campaign for Remain in all circumstances.
After the conference vote, Ms Swinson, said: “We will do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether.” Against the backdrop of cloudless skies on the Dorset coast, the mood was defiantly upbeat.
But even the most optimistic Liberal Democrat activists would admit it is unlikely that Ms Swinson will lead her party from a parliamentary representation of 18 to more than 300 in an election that could happen within weeks.
More likely the Lib Dems will continue to work with Labour and other opposition parties in pushing for a second referendum.
The party’s unequivocal pro-EU stance has galvanised members and helped to more than double its membership to 120,000 since the 2016 EU referendum. It is targeting dozens of seats at the election, many in Remain-supporting Tory seats in the south.
The Lib Dems have provided a new home to three Europhile Tory MPs — Sam Gyimah, Sarah Wollaston and Phillip Lee — and three Labour MPs opposed to Jeremy Corbyn: Luciana Berger, Angela Smith and Chuka Umunna.
With 18 MPs, polling at almost 20 per cent and enjoying a run of electoral successes in 2019, the Lib Dems are unique among the big UK-wide parties in not being split down the middle on the biggest issue of the day: Brexit.
But the party, which is only now recovering from the trauma of five years of coalition with the Conservatives from 2010-2015 and the subsequent electoral wipeout, is not entirely comfortable with its stridently pro-EU position.
Former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes called on members to reject the policy, saying it would “take the focus away” from getting another referendum. He said that since Brexit was decided in a referendum: “it can only be the people who can reverse it.”
The fear stalking the Bournemouth conference hall is that Boris Johnson will carry out his promise and strikes a Brexit deal, potentially taking Britain out of the EU before a general election takes place.
“Then we are skewered,” said one Lib Dem MP. Although the party would continue to campaign for a close trading relationship with the EU, the visceral appeal to voters that Brexit could be stopped would be lost.
The party would then have to have a frank conversation with itself on whether it would then campaign to take Britain back into the EU — and on what timeframe. Voter fatigue over Brexit is prevalent.
There is also a concern among Lib Dem candidates in Leave areas of the country that the party’s overarching focus on Europe could cost it seats to the Tories at an election, where Mr Johnson will pose as the champion of Brexit.
Norman Lamb, who has represented the strongly pro-Leave North Norfolk seat for 18 years, told the BBC’s World this Weekend: “I really don’t want the party to be seen as a single issue party. I think there’s a danger of that.”
The risk is particularly acute in the south west of England which is traditionally a Lib Dem heartland but is strongly pro-Brexit. In recent years the party’s old supporters have drifted away to Ukip — and latterly the Brexit party — and the Tories.
“I want to ensure we can win seats like North Norfolk and in the south west,” Mr Lamb said. “The balance of opinion there is very different to what it is in south-west London.”
Meanwhile Ed Davey, Lib Dem treasury spokesman, will on Monday commit the party to a programme to promote “green capitalism”.
The party would introduce regulations to force companies and financial institutions to be transparent about their carbon investments and legislation requiring them to say how their business strategy moves them towards net zero carbon.
Other policies include a relaunched regional growth fund — a flagship policy of the Con-Lib coalition — and investment in new east-west rail connections in the north and Midlands.
The Lib Dems are also proposing initiatives to promote life-long education and training and a “wellbeing budget” to help vulnerable people, including tackling mental health issues and domestic violence.