Labour and Lib Dems hint at ‘dirty’ backroom deal to install Sir Keir Starmer as PM in coalition of chaos
SIR Keir Starmer was today accused of eyeing a “dirty deal” with the Lib Dems to become PM.
Both opposition parties yesterday left the door open to a post-election pact - and a top Labour MP even refused to rule out radical changes to the voting system if that is what it takes.
Analysis of last week’s local elections show Britain is on course for a hung Parliament at the next general election with Labour falling short of a majority.
SNP leaders have already boasted they could “pull the strings” of a weakened Westminster government if Sir Keir needed the numbers.
And today Lib Dem boss Sir Ed Davey hinted he could get into bed with the Labour chief.
While dismissing the prospect as a “hypothetical question”, he told the BBC: “The focus is on getting rid of Conservative MPs. I make no apology for that.”
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Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also failed to extinguish the idea of teaming up with the Lib Dems.
Challenged on Sky he did not squash speculation directly, but said: “We're not even entertaining that prospect. I just don't think that is the scenario that we are going to be in after the next general election."
He was confident Labour will bag a majority next year, although warned against "complacency".
Asked if Sir Keir would cave into Sir Ed’s key demand for Proportional Representation, Mr Streeting simply said: “We're not even entertaining that prospect... I just don't think that is the scenario that we are going to be in after the next general election."
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David Cameron gave Nick Clegg a referendum to abolish First Past The Post - which was rejected - as an incentive to join in coalition in 2010
Conservatives seized on the remarks as evidence of a looming Lab-Lib post-election deal.
Tory deputy Lee Anderson said: "The only way that Sir Slippery can find his way into No10 is by breaking all his promises, once again, and enter a coalition with Sir Ed Davey or with the SNP.
"After months of backdoor dealings and electoral pacts it’s clear that the two Knights of Brussels are moving towards a dirty deal to drag the UK back into the EU, and a coalition with the nationalists would mean ramming through radical voter reforms and divisive referendums.”
New projections show Sir Keir is on track for 298 seats at the next general election, short of the 326 needed for an outright majority.
Bad local election results for Rishi Sunak means his seats are set to tumble from 365 to just 238.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said this morning: “I totally understand that we need to do better and I think we are going to deliver."
She insisted: ”The Prime Minister is starting to deliver, in a quiet way, for the British people."
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Ex-Tory Housing Secretary Simon Clarke said his party was “playing with fire” by not building enough homes.
He said: “This transcends any single electoral cycle - it isn’t just mid-term blues. The Conservatives’ electoral foundations in the south are simply going to crumble away unless we face up to our responsibilities as the party of home ownership.”
