Lib Dems shouldn't assume The Independent Group wants a deal

Embed from Getty Images

The important news for Liberal Democrats comes right at the end of Dan Sabbagh's Guardian article on The Independent Group:

Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said her party needed “to be working together with the Independent Group MPs but we need to find a 2019 way of doing that and I’m open-minded about how that looks”. 

But despite Lib Dem enthusiasm, TIG MPs said they wanted Lib Dem MPs to quit their party and join them. They argued that the Lib Dem brand has been tarnished by the period when the party under Nick Clegg went into coalition government with David Cameron’s Conservatives.

It seems that the second of my Five Thoughts was right. We should not assume the TIGgers are as keen on a deal with us as we are on a deal with them.