Vince Cable: Nationalist 'fear' stoked up during election could threaten future of union

He warned that the future of Britain was now in as much jeopardy as it was more than 100 years ago when Ireland gained independence

Vince Cable said he lost his seat because of a ‘loathing of Scottish nationalism’ (PA)

Britain could be torn apart by nationalistic “fear and resentment” stoked up during the general election campaign which now threatens the future of the union, Vince Cable has warned.

In his first public comments since losing his seat earlier this month, the former Liberal Democrat Business Secretary attributed the loss of his 12,000 majority in Twickenham to a “loathing of Scottish nationalism” among English voters. And he warned that the future of Britain was now in as much jeopardy as it was more than 100 years ago when Ireland gained independence.

Writing in the New Statesman, he attributed the Lib Dem wipeout in supposedly safe seats to a fear among voters of a weak Labour government being held to ransom by the SNP. “I never imagined that the Battles of Culloden and Bannockburn would be refought in the minds of my constituents,” he wrote.

“Fear and resentment now lie not far below the surface. The politics of identity rests on raw emotion, not reason. Scotland could become like Ireland a century ago but without the bombs (hopefully).”