Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has vowed to fight the next general election, which he believes “could be very soon”, on a pledge to stop Brexit.

Voters deserve the chance to rethink their decision now the EU debate has moved from the abstract to the visceral, threatening jobs and living standards, he said.



The MP said he respected the result, but added that it was perfectly legitimate to put the question to the British people at an election, because the country was out of control and the campaign had been fought on lies.



“I think it is right that in a general election we say to the British people that if you want to get out of the increasing economic mess that we find ourselves in, where we have lost control, [where] we are at the mercy of markets, people’s jobs are going, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed and we are not taking back control … And the fact that the key tenets of the leave campaign are now proved to be lies … it would prove legitimate for the Liberal Democrats to go into the next election and say we offer you a chance to reconsider,” he said.

To the suggestion that this was undemocratic, he replied: “On that basis we would never have re-run the 1975 referendum”, when the UK voted to remain in what was then the European Economic Community.



With the Labour party imploding and the Tories at war, Farron is also looking to a realignment of progressive forces in British politics. He contends that the Liberal Democrats are a “safe space” for voters that want an inclusive, moderate and economically competent party.

Although the party was almost wiped out at Westminster after the 2015 election, the Lib Dem leader sounded bullish, saying the party had achieved its best-ever results in eight years in recent local elections. About 7,500 people joined the Liberal Democrats in the four days after the Brexit vote – an 11% boost to party membership.



The Lib Dem leader was speaking to journalists in Brussels, shortly before meeting seven EU leaders from other liberal parties, including the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte. Farron’s aim is to stop bridges being burned, but he said he was under no illusions, especially as Brexit had inflicted economic damage on the UK’s neighbours.



He thinks the best possible arrangement the UK could get would be a Norway-style status that allows access to the single market in return for free movement of people.



However, senior Conservatives remain convinced they can cut a special deal, despite repeated warnings from EU leaders that this was not on the cards.



Jeremy Hunt, a possible candidate to be Britain’s next prime minister, thinks the EU is ready to give Britain a deal that no other country has ever secured. In a Telegraph column, he called on the EU to put “a Norway-plus” deal on the table, meaning access to the single market with restrictions on freedom of movement.



Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, repeated this morning that access to the single market meant accepting all freedom of goods, capital, services and people.





