Revealed: Sir Vince Cable urges Lib Dem supporters to back Labour candidates in general election

Sir Vince Cable has been secretly recorded urging Liberal Democrats supporters to vote for Labour MPs in seats where they can stop the Conservatives. 

The former Lib Dem Business Secretary told a meeting of members to vote tactically in June, despite Tim Farron's insistence that the party would not form a coalition with Labour. 

The revelation comes after Theresa May's warning that the Lib Dems and Labour are building a "coalition of chaos".

Dr Cable, who is running for his old seat in Twickenham, has been recorded urging voters to back Rupa Huq, Labour’s candidate in Ealing Central.

In the recording obtained by Sky News and LBC radio, he told the meeting: "There’s value is value in a good relationship with people in other parties, and I particularly met a lot of people on the Labour side whose views are very close to mine.

"I’ll just give one example – there’s Rupa Huq who’s the candidate in Ealing I think. Purely by coincidence I found myself, I think it was on Any Questions or one of those programmes in Warwick a few months ago, and I gave her a lift home back to Ealing. We talked for a couple of hours, and it was very clear that on almost every issue our views were almost identical.

"And so I would find it difficult to vote against somebody like that, and I hope that our people around the country are discriminating and think and act in a constructive way."

Sarah Olney, the Richmond Park MP for the Liberal Democrats,  is also heard saying: "We know that we want Rupa to win in Ealing."

A Lib Dem spokesperson said: "We are fighting for every vote to hold back the Tories and their hard Brexit agenda. The Liberal Democrats are the best choice for voters who want to see a progressive opposition to a Conservative Government." 

Patrick McLoughlin, the Tory Party Chairman, said: "The threat of Jeremy Corbyn making it to Downing Street propped up by a coalition of chaos is very real – and these recordings show the Lib Dems are scheming to make it happen.

"As Cable makes clear, the result would be higher taxes for families and businesses, and attempts to frustrate Brexit at every turn. We would all pay the price.

"Only a vote for Theresa May and her team can prevent this chaos and deliver the strong and stable leadership for Brexit and beyond."

Lib Dem key targets Register Log in commenting policy