European leaders have strongly refuted claims from the Liberal Democrats that they publicly backed calls for the British public to have a vote on the terms of the final Brexit deal.

A Liberal Democrat press release issued at lunchtime on Thursday said prime ministers from 8 European countries had backed their call for a second Brexit referendum.

However the prime ministers deny signing the letter, and at least one prime minister was reportedly not even present at the meeting.

The Lib Dems later backtrack and claim the leaders merely "verbally" agreed to the statement.



LONDON & BRUSSELS — European leaders have strongly denied claims from the Liberal Democrats that they publicly backed calls for the British public to have a second referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal.

A Liberal Democrat press release issued at lunchtime on Thursday said prime ministers from 8 European countries had publicly backed calls for a second Brexit referendum.

A joint statement was issued on Wednesday following a lunch between Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and the leaders in Brussels.

However, the ALDE Group, a cross-party group in the European Parliament to whom the group of leaders are affiliated, issued a statement shortly after denying that "no statement was agreed upon or issued at the meeting."

The Lib Dems had claimed the signatories of the statement were:

Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg

Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of Slovenia

Charles Michel, Prime Minister of Belgium

Lars Lokke Rassmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark

Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia

Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Juha Sipilä, Prime Minister of Finland.

However, Bettel resigned as Luxembourg's prime minister earlier this month, and Charles Michel was reportedly not present at the meeting.

A Lib Dem source later told Business Insider that the leaders had reached a "verbal agreement" but admitted the leaders had not signed a formal agreement.

Brussels reporter Nick Gutteridge said that two diplomatic sources had also denied any agreement had been signed or any statement agreed upon.

The original Liberal Democrats statement apparently on behalf of the leaders read: "We regret Brexit, but acknowledge the choice made by British voters for the UK government to negotiate withdrawal."

"We further acknowledged and support the Liberal Democrats' call for the British people to have the final say on the Brexit deal.

"All parties need to seek a broad deal accommodating both the position of the UK government and the principles on which the European Union is built."

The Liberal Democrats have been contacted for comment.