PUBS risk running dry of Guinness and Baileys if the UK crashes out of the European Union, Sir Vince Cable has warned.
The Liberal Democrat leader said: “In an extreme scenario where there is no deal or a very bad deal, you could see these favourite products drying up.”
He made the comments while visiting the Edinburgh offices of Diageo, one of the world's biggest distillers.
Mr Cable said Diageo – whose brands include Guinness, Baileys and Johnnie Walker – is “a global business and it depends on having frictionless borders”.
He said: “Anything that screws up the trade is a problem for them.
“There are some specific issues. The supply chains in Ireland, for example, go across the Irish frontier.
“They’ve got whisky going one way and cream going the other, to make Baileys.
“If the Irish border is a problem, then they have a serious problem as a company.
“You can envisage a situation in which Guinness and Baileys, which are the two brands which are most affected, are seriously disrupted.”
He added: “If there’s friction at the border, obviously that pushes up the cost.”
Mr Cable has repeatedly called for a so-called People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.
But he was previously accused of pushing "Project Fear with tassels on it" when he warned hit TV show Strictly Come Dancing could be put at risk by a chaotic exit.
The former cabinet minister said a “cack-handed immigration policy” might prevent dancers from the EU appearing on the programme.
Speaking in Edinburgh, he said a “retreat behind trade barriers” post-Brexit would inevitably hit supplies and raise prices, and insisted such fears had emerged during a briefing with Diageo.
He added: “The company is very anxious to avoid anything which closes borders. That’s the message from the company, not me.”
Questioned on a Brexit deal being struck within weeks, Mr Cable said there is "a lot of smoke and mirrors" and European diplomats were playing down expectations of any imminent deal.
He insisted there is widening cross-political backing for a so-called People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, which his party is campaigning for.
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