Lib Dems to vote against Article 50 unless promised referendum on Brexit terms

The Liberal Democrats will vote against triggering Article 50 in Parliament, unless the party is promised a second referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday that the party would vote against Article 50 if its “red-line” is not met, for there to be a provision in the bill for a second referendum on the terms of Brexit.

"Article 50 would proceed but only if there is a referendum on the terms of the deal and if the British people are not respected then, yes, that is a red line and we would vote against the government."

He said that the party wants to “respect the will of the people, and that means that they must have their say in a referendum on the terms of the deal”.

“It is the only logical, and the only democratic option on the table. There will be a referendum on the end of this process so no one will have imposed upon them something they did not vote for.”

On 3 November, the High Court ruled that the government does not have the power to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary consent and the government said it would appeal the decision.

Farron pointed to the recent resignation of Conservative MP Stephen Phillips, who criticised the government over its handling of Brexit and its ambiguity regarding the single market. Philips voted to leave the EU, but is in favour of remaining in the single market.

He added that the process to leave the EU started with democracy and should not end with a “stitch-up”.

Parliament is likely to pass the bill as there are enough Conservative and Labour MPs to vote for it, but it could be held up in the House of Lords, where the Liberal Democrats have over 100 peers.

The Liberal Democrats’ eight MPs, the SDLP’s three and several Labour MPs have indicated that they would vote against triggering the clause, which starts a two-year clock to leave the EU.

The SNP has also suggested that they would vote against Article 50 as Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, said she would not vote for anything that goes against the will of the Scottish people, who overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU.

So far Labour MPs Owen Smith, David Lammy, Helen Hayes and Daniel Zeichner have said they would vote against it if amendments were not made.