A LEADING campaigner for a second referendum attracted a big audience to Hereford Cathedral to argue the case for a People's Vote.

Lord Adonis was speaking at an event entitled "Healing The Nation" which was opened by the Dean of Hereford, the Very Reverend Michael Tavinor.

Lord Adonis, a Labour politician, argued that a referendum was the best way to break the Parliamentary deadlock.

Asked what should go on a ballot paper, he offered three options: Remain in the EU on existing terms; Theresa May's deal; and crashing out of the EU on World Trade Organisation terms.

He said people should not be afraid of three option referendums, citing the Swiss who have held successful referendums with three well defined options.

He argued that poverty and austerity had damaged many people and led to Brexit as a protest.

But he accused Trade Secretary Liam Fox of living in a fantasy land.

Just like other countries around the world, the UK transacts the majority of its trade with its closest neighbours, he said.

'So Liam Fox must inhabit a fantasy world by believing that, if we crash out of the EU, he will be able to immediately replace all of that trade with countries half way around the world such as Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.'

He warned that the UK could break up because both Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to Remain, and argued that tackling environmental issues was best done from within the EU.

He urged the younger generation to register to vote because their futures, their career chances, their ability to travel, study and work will be most affected by our future relationship with the EU.

On a local note, he recalled how as a schoolboy in the 1970s he campaigned against the Secretary of State’s proposed closure of Herefordshire's direct line to London.