ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO SKY NEWS, SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY

SOPHY RIDGE: Last year when there was speculation that Nissan could move some future car production out of the UK, the government moved quickly to provide support and assurances and it seemed to work. Nissan announced that they planned to build their next generation XTrail in Sunderland but yesterday Sky’s City Editor Mark Kleinman revealed the company has changed its mind. Well joining us now is the Liberal Democrat Leader and former Business Secretary, Sir Vince Cable. Thank you very much for being with us. I’m keen to get your reaction first of all to this news from Nissan.

VINCE CABLE: Well it’s very worrying for the north-east and the workers and their families, I think that’s the utmost concern but I think it does raise fundamental questions about the Brexit strategy. Five years ago I was going as Secretary of State to open new models up in Nissan, they were very optimistic, they though it was a great place to be, they saw Britain as the gateway to Europe, that’s why they were here and now they’re pulling their investment, despite the fact that the government a year ago actually was offering them lots of money to build new models here. I mean it is a rather tragic story.

SR: I mean we don’t know that it’s about Brexit do we? It could be about diesel cars for example and the EU is not the best market to be selling diesel in.

VINCE CABLE: No, we don’t know, it could be and in fact there is a problem with diesel vehicles and this particular SUV was a diesel model but as I understood it, they could have switched to petrol, there is a petrol version of this so that is at best a partial explanation and it does raise the question of why the government were offering them lots of money to produce a polluting car if that was the case. No, I think Brexit is clearly a major factor. It may be one of several but it is certainly a major factor and it’s not just for Nissan, the same calculations are being made throughout the current industry. If you are Vauxhall or BMW Mini and we have already seen Jaguar Land Rover cutting back for a mixture of reasons including Brexit, I mean the whole industry is now rethinking its approach because it originally saw Britain as a gateway to Europe and that gateway is now closing.

SR: A big part of the story as well is the fact that the government gave these assurances, we don’t know what the assurances were, to Nissan to try and shore up their investment in the future to the UK. As a former Business Secretary, can you give us a bit of insight into the kind of thing that the government would have been saying?

VINCE CABLE: Well I have been trying for the last year or so to find out exactly what those assurances were. Of course there is a limit to what the government can offer because of state aid rules but I am quite sure they had found a way of offering Nissan money to invest there.

SR: So just money then?

VINCE CABLE: Well money, guarantees, support for research, there are all kinds of different ways you can do this within the rules but the reason that I think they focused on Nissan is that Nissan is symbolically massively important. If we go back to Mrs Thatcher’s day, the big turnaround in the British economy came when Mrs Thatcher persuaded Nissan to come and invest in the north-east, very much based on Britain being part of the single market, as it has subsequently become and it has become a totem of the success of British manufacturing and investment. So if they pull it, it is a massive psychological blow as well as an economic blow to the north-east.

SR: You are talking about the uncertainty about Brexit, the fear of no-deal, we don’t know what the situation is of course particularly Nissan, but the fear of no-deal is certainly something that businesses are talking about a lot so my question to you is why is it that the Lib Dems are still pursuing the unicorn of a second referendum when it is pretty clear there is no majority for it, there is only two months until Brexit? Wouldn’t it be better just to be focusing your attention on trying to get a Brexit deal over the line that actually does manage to safeguard jobs as much as possible?

VINCE CABLE: Well it isn’t a unicorn. I think this is a question of timing and I think what’s going to happen is that Theresa May will bring back a deal to Parliament, I think it is very unlikely to pass, it might but I think it is very unlikely. Parliament is certainly going to reject no-deal and half the Cabinet as well.

SR: Well they haven’t so far.

VINCE CABLE: Well the options haven’t crystallised. I think we may get to a point, and it will be a few weeks from here where the government may itself come to the conclusion that the only way of getting its deal to progress is actually to take it to the country. Now I think leaders can change very quickly in Parliament once they see what the options are, the idea of going back to the public and giving them the choice of the government’s deal or some variant of it as against remaining in the European Union will soon seem a very attractive one and I think it is potentially very likely alive although currently it is a question of timing.

SR: Now you’ve said that you will step down when Brexit is either stopped or resolved and there are reports in the papers today, in the Mail on Sunday, that the government is planning to potentially call a snap general election in June. If that does happen will you lead the Lib Dems into it?

VINCE CABLE: Quite probably, yes. I have said that I had a series of tasks left to complete the Brexit argument that may not be resolved by the end of May or certainly not by the end of March, to take us through local elections and an early general election so …

SR: So you would lead the Lib Dems?

VINCE CABLE: I think it’s very likely, yes. There are so many uncertainties at the moment.

SR: Some people will be thinking that you obviously have waited a while to get this job as leader of the Liberal Democrats but at the same time you have struggled to really make an impact, haven’t you?

VINCE CABLE: I think we’ve made a lot of progress actually. I mean if you look at what’s happening on the ground instead of speculation about the future …

SR: The polls don’t suggest that though do they?

VINCE CABLE: Well the polls do actually, there have been a lot of local polls in which we do extremely well. The national polls are not spectacularly good but they are certainly better than they have been for the last eight years and the most recent one I saw last weekend suggested that if the Labour party stick to their present course we’ll finish up in the 20s, mid-20s. There is a lot of optimism in the party, we’re at record levels of membership, people are now joining us in disgust at the Labour party and I’m very positive, I think we’ve made real progress and if there is an early election we’ll do surprisingly well.

SR: There is though constant chatter about the possibility of a new party being formed with speculation that politicians have vacated the centre ground. There is a story in the Observer today saying six Labour MPs are effectively poised to quit the party so have you been approached by MPs from other parties about this?

VINCE CABLE: Yes, indeed, it is has been well reported for months that is actually a much bigger group of Labour MPs, not just six, who are deeply unhappy with Corbyn’s leadership and don’t see any …

SR: So have they spoken to you about it then?

VINCE CABLE: Oh yes indeed and some Conservatives as well, it’s not just the Labour party.

SR: What have they said to you?

VINCE CABLE: I think as of now they are basically working with us to stop Brexit, to try and get a People’s Vote. There is a very strong group of people working as a team to try and deliver that. I think when the Brexit issue is resolved one way or the other, they will reconsider their position in the Labour party. I can’t predict exactly what will happen but I think there is a real chance of a significant group breaking away and if that happens we will work with them in some form.

SR: And what does that mean then? Does that mean that they will join the Liberal Democrats or does it actually mean that the Liberal Democrats will actually be subsumed into another party?

VINCE CABLE: No, we’re not subsuming ourselves into anything but I don't know exactly what form this could take, it patently depends on the events of the next few weeks actually around Brexit.

SR: Could it be a coalition, not standing against each other, is that the kind of thing you are talking about?

VINCE CABLE: Well there are all kinds of possibilities but I think where there are common values we will operate together. It is very difficult to set up a new party under the first past the post system, I think they recognise that and I think it’s sensible if we do have common values and common interests that we work together in some way but that’s some way down the track.

SR: How many MPs are we talking about?

VINCE CABLE: I don't know, the figure of six this morning seemed very much at the lower end of the figures quoted to me but again we’ll see, it’s their choice, not mine.

SR: Okay, Vince Cable, thank you very much.

VINCE CABLE: Thank you.