That the Liberal Democrats might try to scupper the boundary reforms if they don’t get their way on Lords reform has been the talk of the tearooms in Westminster for months. But today the threat comes to the fore as Nick Clegg’s departing head of strategy Richard Reeves warns the Independent that there will be ‘consequences’ if Tory MPs try to block reform of the upper chamber by voting down the Government’s programme motion for debating the legislation. This is what he told the newspaper:
His threat focuses on the boundary review, from which the Tories will benefit and the Liberal Democrats will not. But the Lib Dems, he told the newspaper, would not walk out of the Coalition over the issue.‘There would be broader consequences for the Government’s programme, particularly around political and parliamentary reform. The idea that a failure to deliver a government commitment on Lords reform would be consequence-free is for the birds.’
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