It’s time for the Greens and Lib Dems to collaborate to change the system - and stop Brexit
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas joins with campaigners as they take part in the People's Vote March. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
ALAN HAUSER says an electoral alliance is a price worth paying to stop Nigel Farage.
It may be satisfying to add up the Remain parties' votes to prove we are in the majority but it will be completely useless if Farage becomes PM with 30% of the vote in an accidental general election. The Tories, Labour, Lib Dems and resurgent Greens would average 17.5%.
Prime minister Farage may seem fanciful but there was a time when Donald Trump as president was a ridiculous thought. It could happen here.
All the old-school parties are myopic and self-obsessed. So it may be difficult to achieve what is desperately needed - an electoral alliance between the Lib Dems and Greens.
Their leaders and supporters will have to make several leaps of faith and concessions. But the huge benefits are not only to stop Brexit, but also to introduce a PR electoral system - in both parties' long-term interests and a first step for this fractured nation to heal. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to consolidate the tactical vote.
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Parties working collaboratively together to achieve common aims is the European way. Please can they start now over here? This is an emergency!
Alan Hauser
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