The Liberal Democrats are standing on a forthright "B******* to Brexit" platform ahead of this month's European Parliament elections.

The pro-Remain party released their manifesto for the 23 May polls, with the document hailed as a "blueprint for what the UK could achieve if Brexit was stopped".

Campaigners who find the title of the manifesto too strong will be able to use an alternative edition titled "Stop Brexit" instead.

Cable: 'We are now a remain country'

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable defended the release of a manifesto for the elections.

The government still hopes - if a Brexit deal is ratified soon - the UK's freshly-elected MEPs will not have to take their seats in the European Parliament at the beginning of its new term in July.


But Sir Vince claimed, if Brexit does not go ahead, then the UK's representatives in Strasbourg and Brussels "will matter" and there will be "a lot of opportunity in Europe".

The Lib Dem manifesto calls for:

:: Europe to adopt a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050

:: An emergency £7.5bn support fund for those affected by Brexit uncertainty

:: The extensions of rights for EU citizens in the UK including the ability to stand and vote in elections

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Recent polls have shown Nigel Farage's Brexit Party to be the most popular with voters ahead of the 23 May elections, with the Lib Dems behind Labour and the Tories as the fourth best-supported party.

The Lib Dems enjoyed a resurgence at last week's local elections, but Sir Vince played down the prospect of similar success in the European ballot.

His party will battle with Change UK, the Greens, and the SNP for pro-Remain votes this month.

Sir Vince told Sky News: "I don't think we expect a spectacular result because we have several different Remain parties and people have only got one vote.

"But what we will be making the case for is, among the parties that are totally committed to Remain, we are the one that people should be trying to get behind.

"We have been consistent over the years in pressing for Remain and for a People's Vote.

"We've been the European party for 50 years, we've got major influence in Europe through our working with other liberal parties there.

"At the moment the momentum is behind Farage but I think we're highly motivated and we're out there and we want to stop that momentum and turn this into a much more positive argument about British membership."