Lib Dems drift further to the political right in possible deal with Tory rebels
Jo Swinson: It’s an old pic but we don’t have any actual images of her negotations with Rory Stewart and his pals.
If this is true (and it’s a Sunday Times report, so that’s debatable), then it confirms the Liberal Democrats’ rightward drift since Jo Swinson took over as leader.
Remember last week, when former Tory Phillip Lee crossed the floor of the House of Commons to sit with the Liberal Democrats – prompted the party’s LGBT representative, Jenny Rigg, to quit?
She tweeted her anger at what she saw as her party’s capitulation to Toryism.
And it seems she was right:
Rebel Tories expelled from the party are in talks with the Liberal Democrats about a non-aggression pact.
The former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron is helping to broker a deal between Rory Stewart, an expelled Conservative and neighbouring Cumbrian MP, and the new leader, Jo Swinson, insiders say.
Under the proposal, Stewart would stand as an independent MP at the next general election but agree to accept a soft Lib Dem whip in exchange for the party not fielding a candidate against him. It is understood that the Green Party would also stand aside in Stewart’s Penrith seat.
[Other expelled Tory rebels including Sam Gyimah and Margot James are implicated in the deal.]
Make no mistake: a deal would only be possible if the Liberal Democrat leadership and the expelled Conservatives were able to see eye-to-eye politically.
And Ms Swinson’s behaviour makes it clear that it is her party that has moved into conjunction with the Tories, not the other way round.
This must be heartbreaking for all the traditional Liberals who have supported their party through nightmares like the Coalition government and beyond – not to mention those who voted LD because they want to remain in the EU. What a bare-faced betrayal.
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The LibDems can never be trusted ever again after the Clegg-Cameron Coalition that betrayed the country, and now they are at it again making deals with the Right wing. Never trust a LibDem. But what are the Greens doing getting involved in this shady plot? I can only conclude that this is part of the wider conspiracy against Corbyn.
Agreed. What the hell are the Greens doing getting involved in this nonsense? Beyond shameful.
The Lib Dems are now the new Tories while the nominal Tories become populist Brexit party.
The Lib Dems have form!