Image copyright PA Image caption Those with pensions had suffered "relatively little" in the financial crisis, Sir Vince said
Older people who voted for Brexit have "comprehensively shafted the young", Sir Vince Cable has said.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the Lib Dem leader accused the over-65s of being "self-declared martyrs" who claim leaving the EU is worth the cost.
"The martyrdom of the old comes cheap," he said, as fewer have jobs to lose and living standards are protected by the triple lock on pensions.
"For the Brexit martyrs, paradise beckons," he added.
Quoting statistics that 64% of over-65s voted for Brexit - compared with 71% of under-25s who voted Remain - Sir Vince said he was "struck by the heavily Remain sentiment in colleges and schools, and the heavily Brexit mood of church-hall meetings packed with retired people" during the referendum campaign.
He claimed that austerity measures had largely affected the working population, with pensioners suffering "relatively little" after the financial crisis.
Young people, he said, have the added problems of "prohibitive housing costs, growing job insecurity and limited career progression".
"The old have comprehensively shafted the young," added Sir Vince. "And the old have had the last word about Brexit, imposing a world view coloured by nostalgia for an imperial past on a younger generation much more comfortable with modern Europe."
The newly-elected party leader warned that describing such "masochism" as martyrdom was "dangerous", adding: "We haven't yet heard about 'Brexit jihadis' but there is an undercurrent of violence in the language which is troubling."
Sir Vince also criticised cabinet ministers, who he claimed were "waging civil war, rather than working out what they want from Brexit."
He says former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith called for trade envoys to be sacked as a result of them "talking down our country".
"At this rate, we will have Brexit thought crimes before long," said Sir Vince.
He said that with the government confirming freedom of movement will end in 2019, the UK will leave the single market and there will be no transition.
pickled-egg on August 6th, 2017 at 09:23 UTC »
Indeed.
A final fuck-you from an increasingly angry generation. Nobody has the slightest clue what they're all so angry about though.
PoliticalShrapnel on August 6th, 2017 at 09:19 UTC »
An old friend of mine told me he voted Brexit because it's never been done before and so economists can't predict what will happen.
Anyone got a good reply to his 'logic'?
michaelisnotginger on August 6th, 2017 at 08:54 UTC »
Things are already tough with hugely higher cost of living, centralisation of work opportunities into a few hubs, reduction of traditional employment opportunities, higher education costs, depressed wages, reduction of value of qualifications, and so on.
Brexit is another layer on top of that. It makes everything that much more uncertain, adds significant complexity onto work and travel opportunities, and will undoubtedly lead to job losses and relocation as well as higher costs. I genuinely can see no benefits except for a few very wealthy people.