Brexiteers be warned: A Labour Lib Dem coalition could see us back in the EU - analysis by Olivia Utley
A lib-lab pact could see us back in the single market faster than Ed Davey can slip down a water slide
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The Liberal Democrats have evidently decided that the best way to win over voters is to remind them that Ed Davey exists in the most exuberant way possible. Rather than concrete, costed policy announcements, what I’ve seen over the past few days following the Lib Dems around on their battle bus is stunts. And a lot of them.
In Windermere on Monday they kicked things off with paddle boarding, where Davey managed to fall in the river not once, but five times (he later admitted that at least one these tumbles was done deliberately).
Then we moved to Knighton on the England, Wales border, where Davey delighted the cameras again with some comic cycling. Our next stop was Frome in Somerset — former Lib Dem heartlands — where Davey took to a slip-and-slide, in the pouring rain, of course.
The Lib Dems are hoping that they can persuade disillusioned Conservatives that they are the opposition party to be reckoned with.
A Lib/Lab pact could see us back in the single market faster than Ed Davey can slip down a water slide
PA
The problem is that Ed Davey has to tread a very thin line here: he has to prove to the electorate that there’s enough clear blue water between himself and Keir Starmer that it’s worth voting Lib Dem.
But he doesn’t want to alienate the Labour leader because although they won’t admit it, the dream scenario for the Lib Dems is that the polls narrow to the point where a hung Parliament is being discussed, and the Lib Dems could be potential kingmakers for Labour.
Every day this week I’ve asked him whether Keir Starmer would be a good PM, and on each occasion he fudged and evaded.
If we do get into a situation where a hung parliament becomes a possibility — and with Labour’s campaign now in the weeds it could still happen — the next question is what would Davey’s price be for a coalition?
I asked him today if it might be a second EU referendum, and he didn’t say no…
Keir Starmer has spent the last five years attempting to polish his (paltry) Brexiteer credentials, but could he really resist the temptation of another referendum if it came hand in hand with a ticket to Number 10?
With Labour still so far ahead in the polls, this is all still pretty hypothetical. But Brexiteers should be warned: a Lib/Lab pact could see us back in the single market faster than Ed Davey can slip down a water slide