• Former business secretary said EU will be tough on UK after referendum vote to leave
  • He argued David Cameron was making a "big mistake" holding the referendum at all
  • Said Conservatives might back Theresa May to succeed Cameron after he announced resignation this morning

The European Union has no choice but to be tough on Britain during its “divorce” following last night’s referendum verdict, according to former business secretary Sir Vince Cable.

The majority of Richmond residents voted to remain the union, with just over 30 per cent of the borough’s electorate voting to leave.

Richmond Reacts: Politicians discuss Brexit after 70% of borough votes Remain

Sir Vince, who lost his Twickenham seat in 2015’s general election, said though the mood in his former constituency was predominantly pro-European, it was clear to him from his travels around the country that there would be a Brexit result.

He said: “I think it was fairly clear from the last couple of weeks that this was the way things were heading.

“I have been going around the country and in the debates it was very clear there was a Brexit mood.

“What I discovered was that the mood in Twickenham was very different to what I encountered in smaller, more working class towns.”

Sir Vince, who spent five years as business secretary in the coalition government, said the EU would be tough on the UK as it pulls away from the union.

He said: “The EU is going to be quite tough because they can’t afford to be anything else, not because they are being vindictive.”

“The process of unravelling the 12,000 or so regulations is going to take years and years.

“It is a divorce, and divorce is messy, but in some cases they do turn out all right.”

Your Local Guardian:

Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney warned against a Leave vote

“In terms of business, none of us really know exactly what will happen, but we should be aware of the warnings from institutions such as the Bank of England that we will be in for some turbulence.”

He said he hoped there would not be an upsurge of nationalism and that European residents living in the borough and beyond would continue to feel at home.

Sir Vince said: “It would be very tragic if we now descended into backward-looking xenophobia, though I don’t think that will happen.”

Your Local Guardian:

Prime Minister David Cameron said he would step down from his position in a few months

The former Twickenham MP said when he was in the cabinet he argued David Cameron, who this morning announced he would be leaving his post as Prime Minister, was making a big mistake in holding the referendum in the first place.

He said: “But he did feel under enormous pressure from many in his party about it.

“It is not my party, but I would be amazed if they did anything other than choose somebody [to succeed Cameron] who is much more Euro-sceptic.

“It is possible that they [the Conservatives] might go for somebody like Theresa May as a compromise.”

Your Local Guardian:

Sir Vince believes the Conservatives may choose Theresa May to succeed David Cameron