Former leader and current leader of ‘stop-Brexit party’ fail to attend vote on amendments

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has apologised after he and his successor, Vince Cable, missed the votes on two government-backed amendments tabled by hardline Brexiters that passed with a majority of just three.

Cable and Farron, who have positioned the Lib Dems as the stop-Brexit party, were away from the Commons on Monday night during the vote on amendments tabled by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s hardline European Research Group (ERG).

Farron was giving a talk in Sherborne, Dorset, on how he squares his controversial views as an evangelical Christian with being a liberal politician. Cable was attending a meeting away from parliament.

In an email to the Guardian, Farron admitted misjudging the vote. He said: “I was authorised to be absent due to a pre-arranged engagement away from the parliamentary estate.

“In the end nobody expected the vote to be as close as it was – I’d actually cancelled the engagement earlier on, but then uncancelled because we expected Labour to abstain and the government to win by miles.

“We clearly called it wrong, as did Labour. I take full responsibility for my part. The Tories don’t deserve any luck, I’m so sorry I inadvertently granted them some.”

Stephen Kinnock (@SKinnock) Last night two Brextremist-driven amendments were carried by a whisker - 3 and 4 votes, respectively. 14 Tories rebelled. Tim Farron and Vince Cable (those doughty, fearless crusaders against a hard Brexit) didn’t vote. This was how Tim spent his evening: https://t.co/Iz5dHz9RHL

The Lib Dem chief whip, Alistair Carmichael, also admitted he “messed up”. He said: “The government squeaked home by just three votes in a key amendment. It should have been one ... By the time it became apparent that the vote was going to be close – it was too late to get two of our MPs back in time to vote.”

Downing Street claimed the amendments were “consistent with the Brexit white paper”, a decision that so incensed Tory remainers that 14, including a junior minister, voted against the government.

After the government won two of the votes with a majority of just three, remain-backing Labour MPs turned on Cable and Farron – although three Labour MPs, and a former Labour MP also backed the government.

Stephen Doughty (@SDoughtyMP) Yet you were happy to tweet this as you absented yourself from a crucial #Brexit vote tonight. So where were you tonight @timfarron ? Surely not here...???? pic.twitter.com/l8AJpmqZI8

The Lib Dem’s Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake, criticised the government for accepting amendments to the customs bill from the hardline ERG. “We have seen the truly calamitous state of the Tory party, as once again the prime minister is forced to concede ground to hold together her unholy alliance of MPs,” he said.

Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) .@thomasbrake "The Customs Union is essential to the basic stability and prosperity of the UK. Nobody voted for job losses and financial uncertainty. That is why we must now give the people the final say and an opportunity to Exit from Brexit.” #CustomsBill #FinalSay pic.twitter.com/0fMPqpqX6I

But when he was challenged by LBC on why Farron and Cable had failed to vote on the amendments, he said the Lib Dems did not anticipate that the vote would be so close.

A Lib Dem source said: “Vince had an important meeting off the parliamentary estate that had been approved by the whips and nobody thought these amendments would ever be so close.”

He added: “The Chequers plan is unworkable in any form and our aim is to stop Brexit. These amendments don’t make it any more workable, the whole thing is unworkable.”

Play Video 1:51 Anti-Brexit Tory MP Anna Soubry asks: who runs the country? – video

The Tory rebel Anna Soubry attacked Theresa May for accepting the amendments.

She told ITV’s Good Morning: “Why did she do it? Because she’s in hock to the hard, no-deal Brexiteers. So the question really is who’s running Britain? And it isn’t Theresa May, it’s Jacob Rees-Mogg, that’s the reality of it.

“People who voted leave did not vote for Jacob Rees-Mogg’s version of Brexit.”