Of course the Liberal Democrats prefer the Conservatives to Labour. The Lib Dems are the party that most Conservative MPs would invent for themselves, and the two were in Government together for a full five years until quite recently, getting an awful lot done. For the most part, "awful" was the word. But they got it done. Together.
Jeremy Corbyn knew this when he issued his invitation to them. He knew that this would be their response, and they have not disappointed him. They and most Conservative MPs both want the Coalition back, and promotion came far more easily to Lib Dems than to Conservatives in those days, meaning that Sarah Wollaston now stands a very good chance of becoming Secretary of State for Health.
The Conservatives actively want to lose between 30 and 50 seats to the Lib Dems, they are quite happy to lose around 10 to the SNP in the process, and they are under no illusions about making up the numbers from Leave-voting seats that they do not currently hold. Or, as those are otherwise known, safe Labour seats, largely in former mining areas.
That was the strategy, if it could have been so described, in 2017, so they know perfectly well that it does not work. The Conservative candidate for Bolsover, where they claimed in 2017 that they were going to unseat Dennis Skinner, will not be booking a ticket to Westminster anytime soon. Nor will the Conservative candidate for Easington. And so on.
But a hung Parliament with 60 or so Lib Dems in it need not necessarily mean a return to the Coalition. Another hung Parliament is indeed coming, so we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. A new party is now in the process of registration. I will stand for Parliament here at North West Durham even if I can raise only the deposit, which I could do by going pretty overdrawn, although that was not how I was brought up. Buy the book here. I would still prefer to raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign, but I am no longer making my candidacy conditional on having done so. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.
But a hung Parliament with 60 or so Lib Dems in it need not necessarily mean a return to the Coalition. Another hung Parliament is indeed coming, so we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. A new party is now in the process of registration. I will stand for Parliament here at North West Durham even if I can raise only the deposit, which I could do by going pretty overdrawn, although that was not how I was brought up. Buy the book here. I would still prefer to raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign, but I am no longer making my candidacy conditional on having done so. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.
It has become clearer and clearer through the course of today that the Lib Dems would rather have the Tories than Labour, is that because the Tories are pro-Brexit? Exactly, they both know their own. Practically interchangeable parties: pro-austerity, pro-privatisation, socially liberal, pro-EU, pro-war, "climate change" as the excuse for hating industry, "climate change" as the excuse for everything.
ReplyDeleteQuite.
DeleteNotice how Mark Francois is even further from power now than he was in the Coalition. He was a Junior Minister in those days. But he is nothing now. He, Steve Baker (not reappointed to the Government) and Andrew Bridgen (never made an offer, than anyone can tell) are now just ranting away on the likes of Newsnight that they will oppose any deal no matter what it says, even if has been negotiated by Boris Johnson.
Meanwhile, the real action is elsewhere. Jeremy Corbyn has smoked out the Lib Dems as always preferring the Conservatives to Labour no matter what, and with all pretence at an end the strategy of both former Coalition parties to resurrect the Coalition can proceed with all haste. All day, it has been doing precisely that.