If the latest reports are correct, the Liberal Democrats are now swinging back to the Conservatives, with whom they may even strike a deal today. If that is the case, and the progressive alliance representing the progressive majority in the UK is to go down as nothing more than a dream, there is one group to blame above all others: those Labour MPs who are giving up and backing a Tory government.
One senior back-channel negotiator for the prog-alliance tells me: “They want to go into opposition. It reminds me of 1979, when Labour thought it was better to go into opposition because it thought Margaret Thatcher would be in for a short period while it regrouped — and then, 18 years later . . .”
Throughout the 1980s, there were still some who sought ideological purity over a compromise with the electorate. Labour figures who want to go into opposition to “renew” are a combination of purists on the left and figures on the right who either are driven by their hatred of Gordon Brown or take part in clever-clever discussions about seminars instead of recognising their duty to govern. From a Labour point of view, after all, surely it is better for the country to have Labour cuts inflicted on it, rather than Tory cuts.
But these MPs appear to prefer what they (probably wrongly) perceive as their own, short-term interests to those of the country.
Content from our partners
Related
