By last night, 6,000 people had joined and numbers are continuing to rise, driven by social media.

“A lot of people have felt this very deeply,” said Tim Farron. “They are concerned that the Brexit leaders clearly had no economic plan and are understandably fearful about what lies ahead for jobs and investment. But more even than that, these new members want to demonstrate that Britain remains an internationalist, open and optimistic country.

“We are now the only party committed to keeping our place in Europe. As the other two parties leave the field of battle, it falls to us to fight for our European future.”