Lib Dem boss Sir Vince Cable accuses hard-line Leavers of being ‘Brexit jihadis’ who are prepared to become a ‘martyr’ for our EU exit in bizarre intervention
The new party leader blasted those who voted to quit the EU and were willing to accept economic pain
LIB DEM boss Sir Vince Cable has accused hardline Leavers of being "Brexit jihadis" who are prepared to become a "martyr" for our EU exit.
In a bizarre intervention, the new party leader blasted those who voted to quit the EU and were willing to accept economic pain as a "badge of honour";.
The Remainer was referring to fresh polling last week which said that 40 per cent of Brexiteers are so dedicated to the cause of our EU exit that they would be prepared to lose their jobs in order to ensure it goes ahead.
And almost one in three said they wouldn't mind if it there was damage to the economy, as long as it meant we would finally leave.
Today Sir Vince, who took over from the party last month after Tim Farron quit, said that it showed "masochism" and was even dangerous.
"To describe such masochism as 'martyrdom' is dangerous.
"We haven't yet heard about 'Brexit jihadis' but there is an undercurrent of violence in the language which is troubling.
Press reports of "martyrs for Brexit"; mark a "worrying" new trend, he added.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
And he insisted yet again that despite the democratic referendum last year which saw 17 million people opt for Brexit, it might never happen.
He went on: "Brexiteers may well be frustrated since the practical difficulties of Brexit, as well as the costs, could result in Brexit never happening."
"And instead of countering the arguments, more and more Brexiteers are embracing economic pain as a price worth paying for 'taking back control': almost as a badge of honour."
Tory MPs slammed his claim that parties were too divided to secure a successful exit.
Former environment secretary and staunch Brexiteer, Owen Paterson, told the Daily Politics that Sir Vince was "behind history".
Today Sir Vince also bizarrely compared Brexit to McCarthyism and witch-hunts which took place in America in the 1950s.
"At this rate, we will have Brexit thought crimes before long," he scoffed.
The 74-year-old took aim at his own age group for voting to leave in the first place at the expense of the young - because they don't have jobs to lose.
Sir Vince wrote: "The old have comprehensively shafted the young. And the old have had the last word about Brexit."