THE deputy UK leader of the Liberal Democrats has made the strongest overture yet to the Independent Group of MPs, urging them to work and campaign with her party.
Jo Swinson said the LibDems shared the new group’s desire to shake up the status quo, and “ditch the outdated, tribal, two-party model”.
Using a Scottish LibDem conference speech to address the 11 MPs directly, she said: “You’ve experienced enough petty tribalism from your own former parties. You won’t get it from us. In the Liberal Democrats, you’ll find allies. Together, we can change our country.”
Ms Swinson, a frontrunner to replace Sir Vince Cable as UK LibDem leader, said she was excited at the possibility of a new vehicle to change the political landscape.
Addressing around 250 delegates in Hamilton, the East Dunbartonshire MP said: “Our politics is broken. The Conservatives and Labour are like the banks during the crash.
READ MORE: 'Change or more MPs will follow' warn new Independent Group members
“Too big to fail, too broken to work. This week has shown just how broken those parties are.
“The political faultline has shifted. We’ve moved from talking about left or right, socialist or capitalist to talking about liberal or authoritarian, open or closed, internationalist or nationalist.”
She said she understood how hard it must have been for the eight Labour and three Tory MPs to quit their parties after becoming sick of their respective leaders.
She stressed Liberals had a history of working across party lines - with the Tories in the 2010-15 Coalition, with Labour and the Tories in the 2014 independence referendum, and the with Greens and Nationalists in the campaign for a People’s Vote on Brexit.
She said: “We can reach out to harness the energy of the many liberal-minded people who are suddenly alive to the need to defend and promote these shared values.
“And I say to the new Independent Group MPs: you have made a difficult, bold and important move. You are disrupting the broken political system and as liberals, we are excited by this change.
“We share your desire to shake up the status quo, to challenge those in power who are failing our country.
“We need to ditch the outdated, tribal, two-party model. We need a better way of doing politics for a modern, liberal society.
“So let’s fight together on the liberal values we share. Let’s campaign together on the issues we care about. Let’s work together to change our country for the better.”
READ MORE: Conservative and Labour defections 'pave way for merger with Liberal Democrats'
Speaking to the media later, Ms Swinson said it was too early to say exactly how the two groups could align, but she was “open-minded” about the mechanism.
“It’s about doing politics differently,” she said.
The LibDems currently have the same number of MPs as the pro-Remain Independent Group.
However with more resignations expected, the Independent Group could soon outnumber the LibDems, changing the dynamics of any relationship between the two.
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