Starmer’s secret pact to stitch up Boris with Lib Dems

LABOUR has been accused of stitching up Boris Johnson by forging a secret pact with the Liberal Democrats to sway this week’s local election results.

Tory chairman Oliver Dowden claimed Sir Keir Starmer was standing down candidates ‘in swathes of the country’ where Lib Dem support is strong to avoid splitting the anti-Tory vote. He also alleges Sir Ed Davey’s party has returned the favour where Labour is dominant elsewhere.

In a letter to the Labour leader, which has been seen by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Dowden claimed that Sir Keir planned to ‘deny the voters a proper democratic choice’ on Thursday.

Both Opposition parties have denied his accusations.

Tory strategists fear a drubbing in this week’s polls, after months of damaging ‘Partygate’ headlines over alleged lockdown breaches at No 10.

Many of Mr Johnson’s enemies in the party have said they are waiting until after the elections – and the conclusion of the Partygate probe – before deciding whether to push for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson is also reeling from the fallout of yesterday’s resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish, who admitted he watched pornography twice in Parliament.

Mr Parish, who has represented Tiverton and Honiton in Devon since 2010, said the first incident had been a ‘moment of madness’ after stumbling on the X-rated images by accident while searching for tractors online but landing on ‘another website that had a very similar name’.

Mr Parish, who was suspended by the Conservative Party on Friday over the allegations, had been under pressure to resign from senior party figures who feared the case would further damage Tory chances in the elections.

The resignation of Mr Parish will trigger a by-election in his Devon constituency, which the Conservatives won with a 24,239 majority over Labour at the last election.

A survey by former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, published in today’s Mail on Sunday, has found that when voters are asked to choose between a Conservative Government headed by Mr Johnson and a Labour Government headed by Sir Keir, the Labour leader is backed by 57 per cent to Mr Johnson’s 43 per cent.

Tories fear any losses in the local elections would be compounded if Labour has indeed formed a secret ‘Rainbow Alliance’ with the Liberal Democrats.

In his letter to Sir Keir, Mr Dowden said: ‘In the South West, you are standing candidates in 61 per cent of seats compared to 97 per cent in 2018. And in the South East there is a similar pattern with Labour standing candidates in 88 per cent of seats compared to 99 per cent in 2018.

‘In the North of England it appears that the Liberal Democrats are returning the favour. In the North East they are standing in just 56 per cent of seats, down from 78 per cent four years ago. Labour are, however, standing in 99 per cent of seats in the area. These shifts are far too substantial to be a mere coincidence.

‘It appears your plans to deny the voters a proper democratic choice are coming to fruition.’

Mr Dowden asks Sir Keir to explain ‘when Labour and the Liberal Democrats agreed to this pact’ and ‘Why have you attempted to conceal this from the voters?’

A spokesman for Labour said: ‘We are in the business of winning elections with Labour candidates driven by Labour values.’ A party source added: ‘There will be no deals and no pacts.’

A Liberal Democrat source said: ‘From porn to Partygate, the Tories have had a disastrous local elections campaign, so it’s no surprise they’ve resorted to making things up.’

‘Plans to deny voters a democratic choice’