On his Facebook page, Vince Cable has said:

There have been false rumours lately. As this statement says, I’m not stepping down anytime soon.

He’s linked to this article in the Independent

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable is not planning to quit the party “any time soon”, party sources have said after reports he will use a September speech to announce he is stepping down.

Sir Cable, who took over from Tim Farron after last year’s election, is due to give a policy speech on 7 September, a week before the party gathers in Brighton for its annual conference.

The Sunday Times and Business Insider both suggested that he would use the speech to announce plans to step down before the next general election, which is scheduled for 2022, when he would be 78 or 79.

They reported that he could also unveil plans to allow people to run for party leader if they are not an MP. The party currently has 12 MPs.

A party source told the Press Association: “He’s not about to stand down, or use the speech to stand down.

“There are no plans to step down any time soon.”

They also said that the idea of allowing a non-MP to be party leader is “not set in stone, but it’s an option”.

Mark Pack has written a typically sensible post about this story, in which he says:

There’s no mystery about Vince Cable doing more than one speech in September. Flip it around and think of the reverse. Think how weird it would be if he’d announced that he wasn’t doing any other speeches in September as he can cover everything in one party conference speech. The party needs to secure more coverage, and multiple speeches are one way to do that.

I have revised my article from Sunday based on this update.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist. He is one of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.