Tim Farron launched an attempt to win over Labour’s Blairites today, just hours after Liberal Democrat activists sang a song denouncing Tony Blair.
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In his speech, Farron will also suggest that former Chancellor George Osborne was responsible for the Brexit vote due to his punishment budget announcement during the campaign.
Comparing Mr Blair to 1990s band The Stone Roses, Mr Farron said he “preferred the early work” and praised policies such as working tax credits and school building.
“When I was on the island of Lesbos past year, after we’d helped to land a flimsy boat of desperate refugees, I was handing out bottles of fresh water”.
He said: “I think it’s a peculiar one”.
Farron said the government had “barely lifted a finger” to help tackle the refugee crisis since the newspapers had moved on from the death of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi last year.
The remarks came after Lord Ashdown tweeted: “Naughty thought Witney by-election”.
And he will attack the Prime Minister, saying: “Theresa May says Brexit means Brexit”. Many liberal-minded people, for example, think other liberals are too indulgent of the illiberalism of conservative Islam.
With Labour expected to re-elect Jeremy Corbyn as leader, Mr Farron appealed directly to the party’s centrist supporters to switch to the Lib-Dems, though he was set to admit it was “a big ask”.
“The problem with Jeremy Corbyn is I don’t think he will work with anybody else, and he didn’t in the referendum, and that makes it very hard”, he said.
Mr Farron is also demanding PM Theresa May explain what Brexit really means as he calls for a second referendum on the terms of withdrawal. That is the best option for staying in.
“If we trusted the people to vote for our departure, then we must trust the people to vote for our destination”, he was due to add.
Mr Farron also insisted the Lib Dems are ready to raise taxes to save the NHS and determined to reverse the rush to Brexit.
What do Lib Dem members think about the idea of a new centre-left party in British politics?
In a further blow 46 per cent said they dislike him, and 41 per cent dislike his party.
Former party leader Lord Ashdown told reporters, “Your presumption is that all the 48% who voted to remain in Europe would want to see a second referendum”. Indeed, he said he’d consider a dedicated NHS tax.
“I don’t think that taking away the Green candidate and expecting that they will follow orders and jump into line behind us, I think it’s slightly presumptuous, I think it’s slightly insulting and I don’t think it’s liberal”. That’s how you get to the bottom of these things.
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Boris Johnsons appointment as Foreign Secretary shows that Britain has lost its marbles in the wake of the European Union referendum, according to Tim Farron.
