With Nigel Farage ganging up with Boris Johnson, Labour and the Lib Dems must themselves join forces. This is a time to break taboos, not a time for tribalism.
The Brexit Party’s decision not to contest any seats that the Conservatives won in 2017 is a boost to Johnson’s electoral chances. This may not even be the full extent of their pact, as the Brexit Party is also under pressure to dial down its campaigning in Labour seats that the Tories are targeting – and the Conservatives may back down in a few places to help Farage’s troops.
This pact of the devils – which some observers think was brokered by Donald Trump – means a Johnson victory is likely to lead to a really hard Brexit. If the Prime Minister is telling the truth, he won’t extend the “transition” beyond the end of next year. We will then crash out of the EU’s market or do a rotten trade deal, as he won’t be able to nail down even a half decent one in a year.
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It was Johnson’s commitment yesterday not to extend the transition which Farage quoted today in explaining his U-turn. He set aside his angry rejection of the Johnson deal with Brussels. The Prime Minister then welcomed the decision. It all looks perfectly choreographed.
If the pro-referendum forces don’t get their act together fast, Johnson will win a majority – and then it will be game over. There won’t be any people’s vote and there won’t be any chance of staying in the EU.
Labour/Lib Dem tribalism
The Lib Dems have agreed a “remain alliance” with the Greens and Plaid Cymru covering 60 seats. This is not nearly ambitious enough. They now need to do their damnedest to extend it to Labour.
Why doesn’t Jo Swinson offer to stand her troops down in Labour-held seats provided Jeremy Corbyn stands aside in Lib Dem-held seats? Labour would have much more to gain from such a pact as it is defending 243 seats while the Lib Dems are defending only 20.
This is the sort of big offer that could move the needle. Both parties could spend less effort defending existing territory and focus their attention on fighting the Tories.
Even better, the parties should field just one candidate in seats they can take from the Conservatives. Swinson, for example, should stand down in Uxbridge to give Labour a clear run at Boris Johnson. In return, Corbyn should stand aside in Esher and Walton to give the Lib Dems the best chance of taking Dominic Raab’s seat.
Sceptics will say such cooperation goes against the parties’ deep-seated hatred for one another. They also point out that there’s no time to agree such a pact, as nominations for candidates have to be finalised by Thursday.
All this is true. But even if the Thursday deadline is missed, parties could run “paper candidates” wherever another pro-referendum party has the best chance of winning – and not put effort into fighting those seats.
Tactical voting mayhem
It is not just the political parties that need to cooperate. The various pro-referendum tactical voting websites must also get their act together. In some cases, they are giving conflicting advice about which party has the best chance of defeating the Tory. As a result, voters could be confused and Johnson will reap the benefits.
There are three rival campaigns – run by Best for Britain, Gina Miller and the People’s Vote. In the coming days, they must find a way to pool their knowledge and narrow their differences.
Sceptics will say this can’t be done because electoral rules make it really hard for rival campaigns to work together. Although pro-referendum campaigns must not break the law, they can take advice from the Electoral Commission about what is possible and find a way forward.
This is a time for imagination and vision. After all, we are facing a national emergency.
Although InFacts is part of the People’s Vote campaign, it has not been involved in designing its tactical voting website.
