Good media coverage for Lib Dem Euro campaign launch

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If the Liberal Democrat press people could have dictated the start of an article about today's launch it would have read something like this:

The Liberal Democrats launched their European election campaign on Friday in east London with a simple message, Stop Brexit, but expressed disappointment that there was not a single pro-Europe grouping. 

The "unapologetically pro-European party" slate of 70 candidates includes local councillors, a chartered engineer, a former journalist, and those who are new to politics. 

The party leader, Vince Cable, said it was a pity that Change UK, which launched its European election campaign last week as the anti-Brexit party, had ignored the Lib Dems’ offer to stand on a united slate. "We should be standing together," he said. “The millions of people who want to remain would expect us to stand together. 

"The Liberal Democrats made it clear we were happy to work with others but it wasn’t reciprocated." He said the Lib Dems were the more established party and expected to benefit from anti-Brexit sentiment.

That is from the Guardian and BBC News took a similar line. Stephen Bush in the New Statesman was notably enthusiastic too.

Somewhere behind this good coverage, I suspect, is a sense of disappointment with the Tiggers, Change UK or whatever they are currently calling themselves. They have badly overplayed a weak hand and lost sympathy as a result.

In particular, the professionalism of today Lib Dem Euro campaign launch is a telling contrast with the Tiggers' efforts to date.