This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Vince Cable has faced embarrassment in Brussels as eight liberal prime ministers denied issuing a provocative joint statement put out by the Liberal Democrats that backed a referendum on the final Brexit deal.

The party said the prime ministers, including the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte and Belgium’s Charles Michel, had met Cable before the EU summit and agreed an extraordinary joint statement backing the Lib Dem policy that the British public should be given the chance to vote on whatever deal Theresa May reaches with the EU.

However, shortly after the statement was released, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE) of liberal parties in Europe said: “No statement has been agreed upon or released.”

Cable was in Brussels as Theresa May arrived to urge EU leaders to adopt a “dynamic” new approach to Brexit talks.

The Lib Dems said the statement had been signed by Rutte and Michel as well as Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel. It is understood that Michel did not attend the meeting with Cable.

The Czech Republic’s Andrej Babiš, Denmark’s Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Estonia’s Jüri Ratas and Finland’s Juha Sipilä were reported to have signed too. The Lib Dems also cited Slovenia’s Miro Cerar, who recently resigned as prime minister.

The statement said the leaders “regret Brexit” and said they “acknowledge and support the Liberal Democrats’ call for the British people to have the final say on the Brexit deal”.

Cable, who had a working lunch with the leaders in Brussels, heralded the statement as the clearest signal yet that Brexit was “not inevitable” and European countries would allow the UK to withdraw from the Brexit process, though there is no sign Britain would pursue that and May has repeatedly ruled out a further referendum.

Rutte told reporters after his meeting with Cable that if Britainchanged its position on leaving the EU, it would be highly welcomed by “almost everyone in the European Union”.

He added: “Of course, whether that happens is up to the UK itself and UK politicians, but I am very happy my friend Vince Cable and his party are very much pleading for a discussion with the UK to make that happen.”

Lib Dem sources said Cable had gained a verbal agreement from the EU leaders at the meeting and believed they had agreed to a joint statement. However, in a statement less than an hour later, ALDE said that although leaders had showed their support for Cable, nothing formal had been agreed.

“If there would have been such a statement issued by the ALDE party, it would have been done in their capacity as party leaders, not as prime ministers,” ALDE said.

Meanwhile UK officials insisted there would be no second referendum, and Brexit would go ahead as planned in March 2019.

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Leaders of the EU27 were expected to confirm formally on Friday that they have agreed the Brexit transition deal, allowing talks to move on to Britain’s future relationship.

May told her fellow leaders over dinner: “We have the chance, now, to create a new dynamic in the talks. To work together to explore workable solutions – in Northern Ireland, in our future security cooperation, and in order to secure the future prosperity of our people.”

Officials also insisted they are confident a deal can be reached on avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland, once negotiations move beyond the withdrawal agreement.

“Once we move on to talking about the future partnership that is where we believe the solution for Northern Ireland will be found,” a UK official said. But they rejected reports that the EU has set a three-month deadline for resolving it.

“Both the EU and ourselves have said that we’re working towards October.”

The prime minister planned to leave Brussels on Thursday night, with discussions on Brexit continuing in her absence on Friday.