I trust Vince Cable | James Spencer-Boyce

Sir Vince Cable - Member of Parliament for Twickenham and Leader of the Liberal Democrats. From 2010 to 2015, he served as the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills as part of the Coalition Government.

Many believe the Liberal Democrats are now irrelevant. They couldn’t be more wrong. Many belittle and dismiss Vince Cable as an outdated relic from the coalition years and yet a recent poll suggests he has the highest satisfaction rating of all the major political party leaders. The fact is, Vince Cable is a well-respected economist and an experienced former government minister who, aside from many other things, was the only politician who predicted a financial crisis in the last decade. Now with Brexit looming, he and the Liberal Democrats are calling for an ‘Exit from Brexit’ – I think I know who I will be trusting on this over a contrary Theresa May and a nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn.

Having paid a truly horrific price for helping the country recover a financial disaster, there has been a period of soul searching and reflection from the Liberal Democrats. But now, as Great Britain prepares to descend into a disastrous, cliff-edge Brexit, the Liberal Democrats are ready to be a credible party of governance and to stand up for those who voted Remain. June 23^rd 2016 set the country on a new course in terms of relations with the EU, the people narrowly, bombarded with lies and misrepresentations, did in majority vote for Brexit.  But the election of June 2017 clearly rejected the Tory interpretation of Brexit - which would mean leaving the single market and the customs union.

But now, people are fed up.

 Brexit is being handled appallingly by the Conservatives, who are poisoned with in-fighting. And with our education and national health services being put under continuous strain, the argument for an exit from Brexit has matured. We have seen in France with Macron vs Le Pen that Liberal values have rejected far-right ideals, and although the Liberal Democrats have a mere 12 seats in parliament, many of whom are well seasoned MPs who have actually served in government, the Liberal Democrats are ready to step up to serve our country in its time of need.

Last week at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Bournemouth, Vince cable described the party’s position on Brexit and the referendum as ‘not a re-run or a second referendum, but a first referendum on the facts’. This pretty much sums up the position we are in. We have seen first-hand how poorly Brexit is being carried through ‘back-seat driving’ from a divided Conservative cabinet, and that only this week published in the guardian that the UK has lost 10,000 NHS workers since the Brexit vote. Is this what the people voted for?

Do not think that Labour is the party supporting those who voted to Remain. Do not kid yourself. They joined the Conservatives in the voting lobbies to carry through a disastrous hard Brexit.  Jeremy Corbyn is happy to see the UK descend into anarchy as we burn every bridge with our allies in Europe.

Vince Cable is a politician we can trust, over a weak Theresa May and a radical Jeremy Corbyn, whose shadow-cabinet has little or no experience in Government.

I believe there is an appetite for liberal values, of tolerance and freedom, unity with our friends in Europe and common sense. This is what Vince Cable can deliver.  He can be trusted to handle the economy, to grow business in the UK and to protect the environment in doing so. He can take many more people who are less well-off out of paying tax, like he and the Liberal Democrats did in Coalition. Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats are the voice of reason and I trust them to be the party to lead our country in these turbulent times.

A London Liberal democrat who will be standing as a candidate in the local elections of May 2018 | Twitter: @jspencerboyce