THE LibDems have a knack for failing to make good on their plans and this week has been no exception.
Journalists had been briefed ahead of Sir Vince Cable’s closing speech at the party conference that the LibDem leader would joke about Leave campaigners experiencing an “erotic spasm” over a hard Brexit.
Cable duly took his place in the limelight and proceeded to fluff the key line.
The veteran MP grimaced as he stumbled over the phrase, saying “exotic sprezzum” instead.
Unfortunately for the ex-business secretary, the mistake overshadowed the rest of his speech.
He did however, recover sufficiently to reach out to Leave voters, explaining that he understands their anxieties and that wanting to manage immigration is not racist.
Cable explained that people had genuine fears that globalisation was turning secure jobs into “crap” ones.
Despite offering his hand to Brexiteers, Cable seemed perfectly content tearing into one of Vote Leave’s biggest backers.
It seems Boris Johnson failed to fool the LidDem leader with his jolly tea tray act. He was given a not particularly honourable mention in the speech for sharing some of Donald Trump’s most prominent characteristics.
The pair were criticised for “their cynical disregard for the truth, their treatment of women, and their inflammatory divisive language make Boris and Donald the terrible twins of the rabid right.”
Doing his best impression of the Thick of It’s Glenn Cullen after the meek advisor has been pushed to breaking point, Cable was determined to lash out at every opponent possible before Brighton Centre staff packed up the conference to make way for the next hot ticket in town – the Champions League of Darts.
Theresa May was first up. Cable suggested the Remain campaigner’s commitment to Brexit was perhaps questionable.
“She is dutifully delivering a policy she doesn’t really believe in – failing in negotiations, losing public support – and all to appease a dwindling group of angry people in her party who will denounce her as a traitor, whatever she comes up with,” he said.
Jeremy Corbyn was up next on the chopping block. Cable hit out at the Labour leader for hiring “hard-left boot boys and girls” to do his dirty work “intimidating” colleagues.
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