Why does Ed Davey refuse to say that the Lib Dems want to rejoin the EU?

The Lib Dem leader seemed to disown his party’s policy when challenged by Ed Balls, writes John Rentoul

The Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey (PA)

Brexit is “the elephant in the room of British politics”, Sir Ed Davey told the Liberal Democrat spring conference in York two months ago. He said that neither the Conservatives nor Labour wanted to talk about the costs of leaving the EU.

He said it was an elephant that the Lib Dems “always point to, even though other parties daren’t even whisper its name”. Yet when Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor moonlighting as a presenter of Good Morning Britain, asked him about it, Sir Ed proved reluctant to say its name out loud.

Balls asked him if he would push Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, to reverse Brexit as part of a deal in the event of a hung parliament. The Lib Dem leader said that, “at the moment”, rejoining the EU “is not the issue; the issue is rebuilding trust with our European friends and neighbours”.