Tories furious over Labour’s proposed pact with the Lib Dems as they slam Keir Starmer’s party

LABOUR are paving the way for a pact with the Lib Dems, with Tories claiming Keir Starmer’s party barely bothered to fight swathes of seats.

They were accused of failing to put leaflets through doors in some areas during the local election campaign.

One Tory accused Labour of “sitting tight” to help kick out some of their long-standing councillors from their prized seats.

A source said: “If Labour fall just shy of a Labour majority at the next election their first port of call could be the Lib Dems if it means walking into Number 10 or not.

“In some areas we just didn’t see any Labour campaigning which helped the Lib Dems. It has just fuelled speculation that an electoral pact is brewing down the line.”

Then Tory party chair Oliver Dowden said 12 months ago that Labour was ‘stitching up’ Boris Johnson by forging a secret deal with the Lib Dems.

Both opposition parties denied the ‘Rainbow Alliance’ accusations a year ago.

Mr Dowden wrote to Sir Keir saying the party wasn’t standing as many candidates in both the South West and South East.

He also said the Lib Dems were returning the favour in the North East by not putting up as many candidates compared to when the seats were fought four years previously.