Tim Farron rules out Vince Cable's centre-left party idea: 'Why would we create a new party'

The former Business Secretary said the Liberal Democrats should disband and form a new party with progressive Labour MP's

The new Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron was forced to dismiss a suggestion from the former Business Secretary Vince Cable that the Lib Dems should disband and form a new party with progressive Labour MPs.

Speaking at the start of the Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth Sir Vince, himself a veteran of the 1980s split which saw the SDP break away from Labour, said Jeremy Corbyn’s election made the creation of a new centre-left party much more likely.

“What I hope emerges from this is the creation of a common sense centre-left formation made of sensible Labour, the Lib Dems and indeed some Tories who don’t like the direction of their party,” he said.

“It will be a very long process but ultimately, this movement might well have to become a fully-fledged political party.”

But the suggestion met with a frosty response from Mr Farron – who wanted to use his first conference as leader to position the Liberal Democrats as the natural home for Labour deserters.

“We have got the Liberal Democrats. Why would we create a new party?” he replied testily when asked about the idea on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show.

“There are liberals in other parties who are not yet Liberal Democrats. There are people in the Labour Party, actually there are many people in the Conservatives who think that David Cameron and George Osborne attacking low income workers is a terrible thing and think that risking Britain’s relevance and prosperity by pulling us out of the European Union or taking that risk is a terrible thing to do.”

Mr Farron later said that he was not a “home wrecker” for Labour MPs. “I am home maker. My door is wide open to all those liberals and social democrats who are not yet members of the Lib Dems.”

The row came as the party’s former leader Nick Clegg prepared to make his first foray back into front line politics with an address to party members.

Although he currently has no formal role in the Lib Dems Mr Farron hopes that he will lead the party’s pro-European referendum campaign.

In his speech Mr Clegg is expected to address the up-coming referendum and warn against the break-up not just of Europe but the United Kingdom as well.

“Not one, but two, unions now hang in the balance,” he is expected to say.

“If we vote to leave the EU, I have no doubt that the SNP will gleefully grab the opportunity to persuade the Scots to leave the UK as well.

“Then what? A Great Britain turned into a Little England, drifting ‘friendlessly’ in the mid-Atlantic?”

Mr Clegg will argue that leaving the EU would result in the UK losing significant global influence – not just in the United States but in China and India as well.

“We may share history and language, but the Americans have been unsentimentally clear that we are of less relevance to them if we are less important in Brussels, Berlin or Paris,” he will say. “The Chinese and Indians simply can’t understand why we’re even contemplating relinquishing our role in Europe.”