Lib Dem leadership hopeful says party will start ‘rejoin EU’ campaign within 11 months

ONE of the leading contenders hoping to become the next Liberal Democrat leader has stated that she may start campaigning to re-join the European Union by the end of this year.

Layla Moran is currently the second favourite to land the coveted role, although she is yet to formally enter the race.

Asked on the BBC’s Politics Live show if the Lib Dems could in future become the “rejoin the EU party”, Moran said: “This is the big question.”

Ms Moran said the Lib Dems could begin campaigning to re-join the EU within the next 11 months, depending on what progress is made within the government’s transition period.

She added: “Even if I were PM, you can’t rush to it, because I think there is a mood in the country that people want to be doing things together.

“In my heart of hearts, I never wanted to leave the EU, but that’s not what happened. If you’re going to deal with the real politics of where we are now, you don’t rush to that decision.

“That said, if we do end up going off the cliff edge of no-deal, I can envisage as soon as 11 months’ time us moving to a position where that is what we want to avoid that cliff edge.”

She concluded: “So who knows? We need to wait and watch what happens to politics over the next few months, it’s going to be critical.”

Could the Lib Dems become the rejoin-the-EU party within a year?

Layla Moran says: “If we do end up going off the cliff edge of no-deal, I can envisage, in as soon as 11 months time, us moving to a position where that is what we might want”#politicslive https://t.co/1tMI8PxTFa pic.twitter.com/Yf9fwkhIGE

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) February 6, 2020

The public had overwhelmingly rejected the party’s pledge to stop Brexit in December’s general election, resulting in the Lib Dems winning just 11 seats.