In anti-Brexit protester during a march through Westminster (Picture: EPA)

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel Brexit if they come to power at the next general election.

Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth after it was moved by their former leader, Sir Vince Cable.

Previously, the party has backed another referendum or ‘People’s Vote’, saying they would campaign to Remain.

But today, Lib Dem members backed a vote in favour of adopting the revocation of Article 50 as the party’s central Brexit policy, which would stop Britain leaving the EU without the need for a second referendum.


Earlier, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said if voted through, the party would revoke Article 50 if it came to power, making them the ‘stop Brexit party’.

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable moved the motion to support revoking Article 50 at the party’s AGM in Bournemouth (Picture: PA)

After ex-Tory Mp Sam Gyimah defected to the party on Saturday, Sir Vince predicted more MPs would join the Lib Dems in the coming weeks and accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of treating Brexit ‘cynically’.



He said: ‘For three years Jeremy Corbyn and his allies have cynically sat on the fence on the biggest issue of our generation.

‘They believe that membership of the EU is just a side issue, a distraction from the class struggle, a capitalist project of no great interest. A generation of young people in particular has been betrayed.

‘That, and the Labour Party’s ugly intolerance and anti-Semitism, have brought us the considerable talents of Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger and Angela Smith to complement Sarah Wollaston, Philip Lee and Sam Gyimah from the other side of the aisle.

‘Within the next few weeks and months I hope and expect that the trickle from both sides will become a flood. Something big is happening here.’

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Chuka Umunna told the conference revoking Article 50 would reinforce the party’s ‘unequivocal’ message on Brexit.

The former Labour MP said he is looking forward to seeing Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson ‘wipe the floor’ with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the event an early general election is called.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell told the conference it ‘grieves him’ that the UK’s membership of the EU should be at risk because of ‘nationalism’.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.