EU leaders deny statement backing second Brexit referendum

Eight liberal prime ministers have denied issuing a provocative joint statement put out by the Liberal Democrats, backing 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 the Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, in Brussels 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 ALDE group of liberal parties in Europe said: “No statement has been agreed upon or released.”

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 also reported to have signed. 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, had 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.

“Polls show that there is a growing desire among the British public for a vote on the terms of the deal,” Cable said. “People can now be reassured that there is no desire among EU leaders to punish us if we decided to remain in the bloc.

“Trump is expected to back down from trade sanctions on Europe – this shows the negotiating power of sticking together with EU member states. The throwaway phrase of ‘going it alone’ is a nonsense.”

Rutte told reporters after his meeting with Cable that “if Britain would decide to change its position it would be highly welcome by all the Liberal prime ministers, my impression is also almost everyone in the European Union”.

“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,” he added.

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, the ALDE group 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.