The LDs wouldn't flip for anything less than a second ref with remain on the ballot and the Tories are never, ever going to give that.
Dunno, doesn't seem as if she has.
LOL the revolt he'd get from his own party would be massive
How can you honestly be sure of that? Besides any second referendum from the Tories would be a poisoned chalice anyway so even in that scenario there's still potential be screwed within the details.
The difference would be that anyone with any spine or sense in the Tory party would be gone, replaced by nutters and sycophants so we really need the Tories to lose seats. Standing still numbers-wise would still be shifting the balance of power.
The LDs entire revival is dependent almost solely on embittered remainers who are unhappy with Labour or the Tories when it comes to Brexit. Swinson might be a dickhead but she's not totally stupid. It'd kill the LDs to jump into bed with the Tories again without getting at minimum a cast-iron guarantee of another ref with remain on the ballot, and she knows it.
Surely not, the Tories have a strong track record of offering good faith referenda to the lib dems. /s
That doesn't matter that much when regardless of how brexit goes the Libdems won't be able rely on it to win them votes them votes for much longer.
There was an interview when she was in that area talking about flood defences, the journalist mentioned it was the coalition that cut everything including flood defences. She tried to deflect by saying lib dems aren't in govt now...
I fully believe the Lib Dems are gullible enough to take this option.
Beyond Brexit, Swinson is trying to position the LDs as the centre-right party that is the replacement for the Tories now they've become hard right, nativist, ideologues and no longer the "sensible, pro-business" party. I mean it's not going to work because of FPTP, inertia, and that social conservatism has always made up a significant part of the Tory coalition, but that's what she's trying to do. Saving the economy by preventing Brexit and then eating up large sections of the Tories as they descend into infighting is integral to that plan.
There were also rules for the fixed term parliament act regarding an election, as long as you have enough votes rules can be changed.
That's what the Tories already purport to be, and with the intertia of being in power will have the press to control that narrative for them. It doesn't seem like a winning ticket and that naturally aligns them with the Tories anyway beyond brexit.
Yep. It's the "everything is fine once brexit is killed party". No fundamental changes needed, austerity is fine and totally unrelated to brexit etc.
It doesn't align them with the Tories. They want to replace them. I agree it doesn't seem like a winning ticket because the Tories are too deeply embedded in the fabric of this country but if the LDs want to gamble that Brexit/preventing Brexit will cause the Tories to disintegrate then have at it I guess.
They didn't need to go with anyone and by going with Tories they lost all the social democratic voters Charlie Kennedy had got.
This is the really key part that a lot of Labour supporters don't seem to get. The LDs aren't going to repeat the coalition because they've become better people, regret austerity or anything, because they haven't/don't. They're not going to repeat the coalition because it fucking destroyed them and they lost tons of voters and MPs and their reputation is still severely damaged. If it wasn't for Brexit and Corbyn's unpopularity they'd still be nowhere and they know it. "They did that stupid thing before!" isn't quite the good argument people think it is.
It's a better argument than any that suggests they work with Labour frankly.
They'll work with Labour to get a second ref. Beyond that, I expect them to continue to be cunts tbh.
That would be contingent on there being a stable enough govt to run a referendum and pass the legislation, they would need to support labour in more than just the referendum to achieve that.
It would probably involve supporting them in a confidence vote until after the ref, but no formal agreement to do so. They could square that with their supporters. Everything else on the Labour agenda? Ehhhhhh. I imagine they'd support some of it because they do have some policy goals in common, but any of the most radical stuff? Fuck no.
I dunno, I just do not see them working with labour in anyway that puts Corbyn in no 10, it's hard to sell that to the Tory MPs and labour MPs that left because they hate him and most of labours policies.
I mean even the referrendum itself would likely be a wash, the lib dems would have to support Labour enough to enter government in order to be able to negotiate a deal either that make the referrendum on Boris deal with labour running the negotians?
