Vince Cable compares Brexit to the 'Iraq war' and 'financial crisis'

Sir Vince Cablehas compared Brexit to the war in Iraq and the financial crisis, in his fist key note speech as Liberal Democrat leader. 

Despite insisting there is more to his party than opposing Brexit, Sir Vince said EU withdrawal ranked alongside  "three great disasters" to hit Britain in recent years.

Speaking at the party's annual conference in Bournemouth, he said: "Anyone who doubts the relevance of the Liberal Democrats should reflect on the  three great disasters perpetrated by the two main parties in recent years:  the war in Iraq; the banking crisis; now Brexit." 

He also called for wealth taxes, as he insisted his party was about more than just Brexit and not just "Ukip in reverse".

Sir Vince told delegates he wasnted to see the tax system shift to impose levies on wealth accumulated through property and savings.

 He said: "We must end the stranglehold of oligarchs and speculators in our housing market.

"I want to see fierce tax penalties on the acquisition of property for investment purposes, by overseas investors."

Adding: "It is a fundamentally liberal idea, handing control to the individual, and I want to explore how it can be sustainably financed through fair taxation of wealth."

Sir Vince also accused ministers of behaving like dictators over Brexit as he called for "political adults" in Tory and Labour ranks to join forces with him and try to reverse withdrawal from the EU.

Describing Brexiteers as "masochists", he said: "What are they afraid of? They now believe in the slogan of dictators everywhere: 'one person, one vote, once'.

"We believe the public have a right to change their mind.At the end of these tortuous divorce negotiations, the British public must be given a vote on the outcome."

Calling for a cross-party effort against a hard Brexit, he added: "What the country now desperately needs is some political adults. There are sensible grown-ups in the Conservative Party, and the Labour Party and the Greens."

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Tory MP for Berwick upon Tweed: told The Telegraph: "Whilst I am never surprised by Libdems comments any more, even by Cable's standards this latest nonsense about Brexit being such a bad thing is just ludicrous. 

"We are leaving a customs union and getting off a train headed for a single state of Europe, which is what the vast majority of British people want to do. Europeans are our friends and neighbours, but we will be a thriving independent country after Brexit."