Conservatives and Labour could both split over Brexit divisions, Vince Cable says

Asked about the prospect of a possible split in the main parties, he said: “I think for the first time in my lifetime this is possible. “In the last few days I’ve been having conversations with deep-dyed Tories – the kind of people you would never regard as wet or one-nation Tories. “They say ‘we’ve just had it up to here – we just cannot take any more of it. Our party’s been infiltrated by the right-wing equivalent of Momentum, we’ve been threatened in our seats, we’ve had to get legal advice. They’re in a terrible state these moderate Tories. “And then on the Labour side you have one desperate effort being made by [deputy leader] Tom Watson, who is a very formidable and impressive guy, to try and save the Labour Party, but even those who like him and hope for the best are pretty pessimistic because the hardliners have complete control.