The Lib Dems are struggling when they should be flying: should they leap in where Labour fears to tread? | Polly Toynbee

As the Mid Bedfordshire byelection looms, it’s clear the party needs a radical approach if it is to be seen as any more than a tactical vote

As Labour and the Liberal Democrats battle it out in Mid Bedfordshire, both are equally astounded by the titanic collapse of the Tory vote in a seat they owned for 90 years. Before canvassers speak, voters volunteer their disgust at Tory disgraces.

As in many “safe” seats where constituents feel neglected by complacent MPs, seeing the Mid Beds’ absentee, the MP Nadine Dorries, strutting on TV and in the Mail “crystalises all they feel about the Tories”, says Mark Pack, the Lib Dem president, sitting in a cafe after a hard day’s canvassing. “Sewage in these chalk streams has the same symbolic effect, as a wealthy place finds public squalor reaches them too.” The Tories’ point of no return feels to him like the Lib Dems’ collapse over promise-breaking on tuition fees. There’s no turning back the sewage outflow of Tory votes.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/B6H5FpL