Lib Dems take a leaf out of Labour’s book

‘Secret election pact to stitch up Boris’ roars the front page of today’s Mail on Sunday. Ahead of Thursday’s local elections, Oliver Dowden, the Conservative party’s chairman, has written an angry letter to Sir Keir Starmer. He claims Labour is standing down candidates ‘in swathes of the country’ where Lib Dem support is strong to avoid splitting the anti-Tory vote. His fellow knight, Sir Ed Davey, is accused of doing the same where Labour is dominant elsewhere. Playing politics in an election campaign? It’ll never catch on.

It marks a change of course from, er, Thursday when Labour were found to have spent a small fortune on online adverts attacking the Lib Dems. Messages on Facebook and Instagram have been running for the past fortnight, accusing Davey’s party of wanting to ‘legalise drugs and soften punishments’ and ‘get rid of Britain’s nuclear weapons.’ Labour’s attack partly stems from Sir Keir’s determination to distance himself from his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who has previously voiced support for both disarmament and decriminalising cannabis possession.