Lib Dems react cautiously to Tory overtures

Liberal Democrats reacted cautiously to the overtures made to them by David Cameron, with former leaders and party members suggesting they would resist attempts to work with the Tories.

Nick Clegg’s predecessor, Ming Campbell, was the first to raise concerns over Mr Cameron’s pledge to hold an all-party committee of inquiry on political and electoral reform. “We had an enquiry on electoral reform before and it got pigeonholed somewhere,” he said.

Party members used the social networking site Twitter to argue Mr Cameron’s pledge was an attempt to kick it into the long grass. Sara Bedford, a Liberal democrat councillor, said: “The LibDems are looking for a meaningful relationship, not a one night stand. Looks like we might be remaining single, then?"

David Steel, the former Liberal party leader, said he believed that a Lib Dem coalition with the Tories “would be almost impossible on policy grounds”. He added that Mr Cameron’s refusal to give a firmer commitment on electoral reform “cannot be ignored”. Others were more direct in their dissent. “Cameron promises “committee of enquiry” on electoral reform,” Tweeted Liberal Democrat blogger, Alex Wilcox. “That’s what Heath said in 1974. We told him to sod off, too.”