Swinson admits electoral pact plot
Lib Dems want Remain alliance with anti-Brexit parties in up to 60 seats to deny Boris majority
JO Swinson last night admitted the Lib Dems are plotting backroom deals with other anti-Brexit parties in a bid to deny Boris Johnson a Tory majority.
She confirmed talks were under way with pro-EU parties including Plaid Cymru and the Greens over a Remain alliance.
The pact could see deals done in dozens of constituencies so that two of the three parties stand aside to favour the one with the best chance of election victory.
Miss Swinson said they were hoping to replicate the success seen in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election in August when the Lib Dems snatched the seat from the Tories after Plaid Cymru and the Greens agreed not to field candidates.
The Lib Dem leader did not rule out a report that the alliance could affect up to 60 seats in the December 12 election. ‘The specifics of announcements will be made in due course but it’s well understood that these discussions have been taking place,’ she told Sky News yesterday.
‘I think it’s fair to say that in the vast majority of constituencies, the party of Remain that is going to be best-placed to win that seat will be the Liberal Democrats.’
Miss Swinson also stepped up her criticism of ITV for excluding her from a live debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn to be held on November 19.
Suggesting the move was due to sexism, she said Lib Dem polling has improved since the 2010 election, when Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg were involved. ‘Spot the difference,’ she said. ‘Frankly, you’ve got a suggestion from a broadcaster that it will be two chaps chatting about how they are going to leave the European Union, leaving out the voice for millions of Remainers.
‘And, yeah, I happen to be a woman. Isn’t that interesting, because when it was Nick Clegg there was no problem with him.’
The Lib Dems have already announced they will stand aside to help former Tory MP and arch-Remainer Dominic Grieve save his Beaconsfield seat. It is thought they will also strike an agreement with Anna Soubry, the pro-Remain former Tory minister who leads the Independent Group for Change, to give her a free run in her Broxtowe seat.
The party is also likely to stand aside in Brighton Pavilion, the seat held by the former leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas.
Tory deputy chairman Paul Scully last night said voting for the Lib Dems risks handing the keys to No10 to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ‘meaning years more confusion, delay, and indecision’.
‘Confusion, delay and indecision’
MEANWHILE, the Liberal Democrats proved once and for all that they are now little more than a single-issue protest group.
By entering into a shabby alliance with other Remain parties, they show they have no ambition beyond sabotaging Brexit.
They have agreed to withdraw candidates from some seats, in return for a clear antiBrexit run in others.
Where is leader Jo Swinson’s great sweeping vision for all? Her radical plan for a better Britain? The truth is, she doesn’t have one. Only an overwhelming desire to overturn the biggest popular mandate in British political history. It isn’t liberal. And it most certainly isn’t democratic.