Vince Cable joins the Camden Liberal Democrats ahead of the May 7 council elections

FORMER Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said he was not too bothered about the “crash and burn” Greens stealing his party’s thunder at the council elections in May.

Mr Cable spoke to New Journal before rallying the troops at the Camden branch manifesto launch at the Sherriff Centre in West Hampstead on Tuesday night.

With Labour flagging in the polls, the Lib Dems have been tipped to make gains in Camden but a surge in support for the Greens under new leader Zack Polanski – himself a former Lib Dem – has made it hard to predict where disaffected voters might swing to.

Mr Cable said: “I do think the recent Green phenomenon is a bit crash and burn. They will probably do spectacularly well in some parts of the country, not so much here – as will Reform.

“Zack Polanski – I think he had his political upbringing in the Camden Lib Dems? And he stood to be a parliamentary candidate in Richmond, but didn’t quite get it – and so looked for other pastures.

“He has struck a mood. He is good at social media campaigning, but the big problem is two and two doesn’t equal 40. The idea that you can make everything free and five billionaires will pay for it is fantasy, and they will have to come to terms with that at some point.

“It’s a very different Green Party than what I was dealing with when I was working with Caroline Lucas. We had a very amicable working relationship.

“We had a seat agreement with them in my borough, where they stood down and we encouraged them to stand in other seats. These days they don’t mention the environment so much.”

Mr Cable described himself as now “a humble deliverer” and professor at the LSE specialising in China, while helping to run renewable energy companies.

“I’m glad I got out when I did,” he said.

“But I still enjoy it. Camden is on our list of possibilities. We are in a military mood at the moment so I will say that we need to distinguish between the air war and the ground war. We are not so visible in the air at the moment – but it doesn’t matter because we are on the ground. At the end of the day what will matter is your local campaigning base.”

“The Lib Dems have always been very good at local campaigning. But it is also important to have the big picture right. The uncomfortable fact is we made a very big mistake leaving the EU. We are an internationalist and European party. What is blindingly obvious is that we have become over-dependent on the US.

“If you tear up relationships with your neighbours and closest partners [through Brexit] you are thrown into a greater dependency somewhere else – the Americans. It is appallingly timed, as Trump is a nightmare.

“We need to extricate ourselves from this dependency. We are not anti-American. But being dependent on a rogue state is a very bad place to be. The Lib Dems are leading that debate about that.”

Vince Cable in West Hampstead

On Labour’s Keir Starmer, he said: “He’s obviously finished, not within the next few weeks or months. But someone with a rating of minus 50, or whatever it is, is not going to last long. I feel a bit sorry for him. He is obviously a decent man. But he doesn’t have decent communication skills and he has made mistakes.”

Mr Cable, 82, was leader of the Lib Dems from 2017 until 2019 and was a secretary of state in the coalition government.

In his speech to members he said they should not be afraid to talk about Lib Dems time in power, describing the 2010 election coalition government as “stable and competent” and listing examples of several policy interventions on triple lock pensions, the pupil premium and “radical reforms taken to stabilise the banks”.

Launching the manifesto in front of 50 party members, Camden Lib Dem leader Tom Simon said: “The manifesto builds on the work we have done on Camden Council over the past four years. What we have done as leader of the opposition group is a really good job – holding the council to account on its record on housing repairs, tackling crime and the rubbish on our streets.

“Six headers in our manifesto set out what Lib Dems will do if elected. Work to make our communities feel safe. To build a fair and inclusive place for all of us. Tackle the housing crisis. Promote thriving high streets. And lead on climate action. There are a lot of great ideas in here.”

One of the manifesto pledges included removing “undemocratic restrictions on public participation at council meetings” and working harder to end violence against women and girls.

South Hampstead ward candidate Tara Copeland spoke about the work the council could do to make Camden “more of a borough of sanctuary” and so that all communities come to feel that the council is looking out for them.

Cllr Matthew Kirk spoke about the party’s record in Camden on helping live music venues.