THE Liberal Democrat leadership is urging Nicola Sturgeon to get behind the campaign for a second EU referendum as it today makes a direct appeal for senior figures from other parties to join forces with it to reverse Brexit.

In a keynote speech to his party’s conference in Bournemouth, Sir Vince Cable will say what the country desperately needs is “political adults” to come forward to fight withdrawal and back the “exit to Brexit” poll.

“That’s you. That’s us,” the Lib Dem leader will declare. “Fortunately, we are not alone. There are sensible grown-ups in the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Greens. And beyond them are millions of people worried about what is happening.

“We have to put aside tribal differences and work alongside like-minded people to keep the single market and customs union, essential for trade and jobs.”

In his conference address, Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, announced that his party would “open talks with the Scottish Government this week to ask them to back our campaign to give the people across the UK the chance of an exit from Brexit”.

It followed remarks at the weekend from Michael Russell, the Scottish Government’s Brexit minister, who, when asked if another EU vote was needed, replied: “Well, yes, but it’s not now. I don’t rule that out by any manner of means but we need to sit down and talk about it.”

Following his conference speech, Mr Rennie said: “The SNP feel as passionately as we do about Brexit and the massive economic damage it could do in Scotland; so we share an objective.

“Their original route out of that was independence but they have had their fingers burned on that; they understand it’s not a popular position to revisit that, so there is another option on the table for them to have another exit from those economic challenges…That’s why there’s an opening now for them to come and work with us in partnership to try to build momentum in the Commons towards this,” he added.

Last night, an SNP spokesman responded by saying: “Brexit is a disaster which gets worse every day under the Tories’ chaotic bungling. But Willie Rennie’s calls for a second EU vote would be more credible if he had not backed the Tories in imposing Brexit on Scotland by trying to deny the country a choice on its future.”

In his speech today, Sir Vince will attack the Brexiteers like Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, suggesting they are afraid of the people having another democratic vote.

“They now believe in the slogan of dictators everywhere – one person, one vote, once. We believe the public have a right to change their mind,” he will declare.

The Lib Dem leader will also make clear that Brexit is a “looming disaster,” which has been the “product of a fraudulent and frivolous campaign led by two groups of silly public schoolboys reliving their dormitory pillow fights”.

He will warn that the sharp drop in the pound since the referendum is a taste of things to come.

"Foreign exchange dealers are not point scoring politicians. Their cold, hard, unsentimental judgement has been, quite simply, that Brexit Britain will be poorer and weaker after Brexit than if we had decided to stay in Europe."

The Lib Dem leader will use his address to demand Prime Minister Theresa May guarantees the rights of EU nationals in the UK.

"Using them as bargaining chips is not merely morally wrong but utterly counter-productive. Put the lives of four million people first, not the posturing internal politics of the Conservative Party. No ifs, no buts," Sir Vince will insist.

In other developments at conference the party called for:

*mandatory employee representation on the boards on all companies with more than 200 employees;

*a pause in the “shambolic” roll-out of Universal Credit;

*a new strategy to defeat terrorism and

*major upgrades to workers’ rights to reflect the modern workplace.