Our “almost leader”, Vince Cable is certainly getting himself noticed this week.
He had the right wing press spluttering with outrage with this comparison in a New Statesman interview:
So how did he react to his former cabinet colleague Theresa May condemning “citizens of nowhere” in her Conservative conference speech last year?
“I thought that particular phrase was quite evil. It could’ve been taken out of Mein Kampf,” he replies. “I think that’s where it came from, wasn’t it? ‘Rootless cosmopolitans’? It was out of character for her.”
It’s not Godwin’s Law if it’s true, now, is it?
He’s been talking to Business Insider too. I was particularly interested in this turn of phrase when discussing potential coalitions. He’s holding to the line we fought the election on – no coalitions. But look at this:
“We are not remotely contemplating coalition with the current Labour Party or with the Conservatives,” he told BI.
“We’re in a fundamentally different place on the biggest issues of the day of which Brexit is the most important. When you’re in fundamental disagreement you can’t meaningfully talk about coalition.”
Note that he said “the current Labour Party” with no such qualification for the Conservatives.
It sounds like it might be different if the Labour Party were to rediscover its sense of internationalism and pro-Europeanism. It seems like he’s slamming the door in the Tories’ faces and throwing away the key but where Labour are concerned, he’s shoving the key at the bottom of his sock drawer just in case we should need it one day.
Those of us for whom the words “centre ground”cause our hearts to sink will also be pleased with this:
“I hesitate around the word ‘centre’ when referring to politics,” he added.
“We are no longer dealing with the old right old left spectrum in the same way. There is a sense I think of extremes dominating and the good things in British society are being crowded out by extreme arguments — and it centres very much around the Europe issue. I think people are beginning to see that this hard Brexit option which is being promoted both by the government and the Labour Party is profoundly damaging and people are desperately trying to find a way of mitigating the damage, or indeed stopping it. That’s where we have a historically important role.
And he stated his view of the party’s mission:
“There is a vast opening in British politics. We are very polarised between the hard right and hard left. There are millions of people with moderate views who are looking for a party that is shaped like the Liberal Democrats but haven’t been supporting us. My job is to turn that potential into political support. I don’t underestimate the difficulty given how the British voting system works but that is the challenge, but it’s also very clearly an opportunity
He touched on how we would do that when he announced his candidacy on this site.
As a socially progressive party we must build on our good policies in support of public services. The NHS, especially mental health, and social care and schools are now under severe financial pressure. Our campaigning on these issues, and others, like the environment, must be national and at community level, building on a long tradition which created the party’s local government base. With a clear voice and a clear message on these issues, we can rebuild our vote share and representation nationally, in local government, the Scottish parliament and the Welsh and London assemblies
It would be good to hear more about his vision of what that Lib Dem society looks like and about how we will bring people together. Being right on the big issues of the day, as Vince often is, only gets you so far. However, his credibility will help as he talks more about the sort of society we want to see and shows us how we can get there.
He also dropped into the conversation the prospect of us not leaving the EU. Only a possibility at the moment, he said, but definitely there.
“I think it is right to aim for Britain remaining in the single market and customs union and retaining all of the collaborative arrangements around research and environmental standards. They are things we should be fighting for.
“But it may be that at the end of it, we are faced with a stark choice between crashing out of the EU with a no deal or a very bad deal, or on the other hand going back to membership. That’s why my party argues that we should have a further vote on this. That didn’t resonate with voters at this year’s election. We all know that. It was premature and people thought we were harking back to the last one. But in two years time when it’s very clear what the economic impacts are I think the public will welcome that kind of option.”
So he thinks Britain could end up remaining a member of the EU?
“It’s certainly a possibility. It’s not yet a probability.”
Part of winning over public opinion will be setting out a vision that reassures those who feel estranged from the political process. Houses, good jobs and a feeling that somebody gets it are three vital components for any future narrative.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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18 Comments
In slippers, subtle, hospitable, in his own home, then absurd language !
I read the reactions and keep in tune with opinions not my own, if we do not, then we exist in an isolated twilight world.
Vince , like he is in the comments ,goes down badly with more than the right wing papers.
As the language of May , the sensible Sir Vince admits is unlike her, the language of Sir Vince, those of us who are sensible , admit is unlike him.
The members who have backed him in a corner on Brexit, are encouraging him to play to the gallery.
His Stalin Mr. Bean days may be yet with him, but trying to sound so anti- Tory or anti- May as to use words like evil, is the stuff that ruined it firstly , with Tim, and the public, seeing him as too knee jerk and not a statesman like character. Nothing wrong in that if it works with your personality type, but Sir Vince is statesman personified , we need him to be.
Vince has done a good job getting noticed recently, something that Tim often struggled to do.
Vince offers something for the left of the party and the not so left of the party. We should be able to unite around his leadership. The latest polls are as follows:
LAB: 46%, CON: 38%, LDEM: 6%, UKIP: 4%, GRN: 1% (via YouGov).
Therefore there is a need to show a relatively united front, get the leadership election over and done with and get Vince in the media more ASAP. We can’t appear leaderless.
On the Mein Kampf quote: I would usually be worried about people coming out with quotes like this, but I know an EU migrant who used to like the Tories who said the same thing about Theresa May and Amber Rudd after watching some of the Tory Party conference.
I’ve just done a search in Mein Kampf for these words and I can’t find them or anything similar.
‘Rootless cosmopolitans’
Anyone have a reference? I’m not saying I agree with Theresa May but we shouldn’t draw a parallel with Nazi thought without being certain of the facts.
PS Just a quick additional search reveals that the phrase ‘rootless cosmopolitan’ was of Stalinist origin and was a euphemism for a Jewish intellectual in the Soviet Union. So, unless we are her calling out for antisemitism, Theresa May’s “citizens of nowhere” comment didn’t mean the same thing at all.
Call me out for being pedantic, if you like, but sometimes it better not to make these kinds of quotes if you aren’t sure they’re right. Caron says “It’s not Godwin’s Law if it’s true, now, is it?” But what if it isn’t?
“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootless_cosmopolitan
@ Peter Martin,
‘Rootless cosmopolitans’ was a derogatory label coined by the Soviets in a 1940’s anti- semitic propaganda campaign against pro -western Jewish intellectuals..
May’s comments could have been taken out of Mein Kampf, it is a book that has never been part of my bedtime reading. He said ‘could’ not ‘did’ didn’t he?
I don’t think it appropriate to pick on a persons use of language or allusions unless one has walked in that persons shoes. May’s comments obviously chilled him.
@ Peter Martin,
Having just posted, I now see that you have found the source.
I don’t think Vince is claiming that May’s speech used direct quotes from Mein Kampf, only that the style and tone of her language “could have come from” it. I think he’s right, and this has been a thread since the appalling speeches at the Tory Conference after the referendum. Her words about “citizens of nowhere” were chilling – perhaps more Stalin than Hitler but still a nationalistic attack on anyone who is not patriotic in the approved fashion. Even worse was Amber Rudd’s speech, which really was a direct echo of Mein Kampf: see this: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/amber-rudd-conservative-party-conerence-hitler-mein-kampf-james-obrien-a7347251.html
Rootless Cosmopolitans was a Communist phrase but the Nazis used very similar ideas. It struck me at the time that Mays phrase was an exact parallel with both the Faschist & Communist ideas about “The People” as against minorities, outsiders & intellectuals.
I don’t think you can back Vince into any corners. He is however now expressing clearly the majority view in our party about Brexit. We didn’t campaign for it, we don’t want it and we have an absolute right in a democracy to campaign for that view.
As the real picture of Brexit emerges – and it’s rather like the remain view traduced as ‘the politics of fear’ – more people are coming to realise that any from of Brexit will damage the UK for generation or more and really should be rejected.
What the mechanism for staying in the EU should be I don’t know. Ultimately Parliament decides these things, not a referendum. I personally don’t favour any further referendums on this or any other subject, because we are a parliamentary democracy.
So keep plugging away at it Vince. No brexit is the best option fro the UK.
@ Mick Taylor,
“We didn’t campaign for it, we don’t want it ………….”
All Lib Dem MPs, with the exception of Nick Clegg, did vote to have a referendum in early 2016. Nick Clegg himself, in 2008, campaigned for a referendum on the EU. He made the call “It’s time for a real referendum on the EU”. No-one had to. There’s a perfectly good case to be made for not having them at all.
So what’s a “real referendum”? Does it mean you accept the result if it goes your way but reject it if it doesn’t?
Only Vince can say whether he has been backed into a corner by anyone on anything: however his views as expressed in the quotes above appear to directly contradict the views he has put forward on this site a year ago.
https://www.libdemvoice.org/vince-cable-writesthe-birth-of-the-48-movement-51147.html
With the possible exception that the Party should campaign to remain in the Single Market and the Customs Union.
As far as the Hitler reference is concerned I, like Peter Martin, think think this is unwise for the reasons he gives.
Seriously depends on what EU we are forced to join, sorry I don’t want to be in the euro! Look at the punishment Greece, Italy and Ireland got. I like the EU as separate states collectively working together for a common purpose and goals…not the case of some dictating to the others…so if that the Europe we are forced to rejoin and there have been hunts that’s the case…then I be changing my vote quickly
See also Vince Cable’s interview on the Andrew Marr Show.
Having left the LD Party in 2011, I am heartened by Vince’s comments. I’m not seriously contemplating rejoining,,yet, but I shall be watching, with interest, the progress of the Party under his leadership.
“If you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means.”
Prime Minister Theresa May, Conservative Party Conference, 05 October 2016
So not Hitler or Stalin but Theresa May
Wanting to be a “citizen of the world” is a fine ideal. Thomas Paine said:
“The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”
I’m not sure how this is relevant to a discussion on the EU though. Maybe someone could explain. Isn’t being pro-EU just replacing the National boundaries of the UK for the collective National Boundaries of the EU?
Are American patriots anymore “world citizens” because they happen to live in a larger country than we do? If not, why would it make any difference if we were EU citizens?
I share Vince’s antipathy to the Tories, but am concerned about his use of words like “quite evil”, with its dark spiritual connotations. I’m happy with the use of colourful language in the Churchillian sense – I enjoyed his ‘Stalin to Mr Bean’ description of PM Gordon Brown, and his likening of being in coalition with the Tories to “mating with a Praying Mantis”. But it’s better for someone aiming ultimately to be Prime Minister to use humour to undermine his opponents rather than this sort of undignified stuff which gives ample ammunition to his (and our) enemies.