Press Story

There is "potential for an historic radical coalition after 2015" between the Liberal Democrats and Labour, according to Chris Huhne, writing exclusively in the latest issue of Juncture, the quarterly journal of the think tank IPPR. He points to potential for common ground between the parties on:
o Housing policy
o Raising the proportion of taxes being taken in green taxes
o Foreign policy, particularly on Europe
o And raising the income tax threshold beyond £10,000

The former Lib Dem Energy Secretary writes that a Lib Dem coalition with Labour is still on the cards, as long as "the votes fall the right way". He writes:

"The assumption that Nick Clegg, having consolidated a centre-right hold on the Liberal Democrats, is preparing to deal with the Tories next time is wrong. He is certainly safer as leader than he looked a year ago. Vince Cable did not have a good conference. But it is Nick who has been making clear overtures to the left of the party."

Huhne argues that "The DNA of the Liberal Democrats is anti-Conservative." But he says: "As soon as it looks as if the party can only deal with one of its potential partners, its bargaining position in any negotiation is fatally weakened."

Imagining the conditions required for a Lib-Lab pact after the election, he writes:

"Labour and the Liberal Democrats' narratives on the economy are going to be fundamentally different in the run-up to the general election, but that is not fatal. It will disguise a potential common agenda around lifting living standards and reducing inequality not just of opportunity but also outcomes, which matters to the Liberal Democrat left."

He argues that the key common ground is likely to be over housing policy, where IPPR's research has been a major influence on both parties. He argues:

"There could also be common ground on housing policy, where the Liberal Democrats want to go further and faster than the Tories have allowed on social house-building. But there is a wider agenda too if Labour wants to pick it up: if the business rate were based on the potential development value of land, it would give a substantial boost to construction activity and to jobs for the young unemployed.

"Nick Clegg has also backed a revival of new towns, which may be one of the most credible ways of sharply increasing house-building in the south east where the pressures are greatest. New towns, by building on relatively cheap agricultural land, can also capture much of the uplift in land values that goes with planning permission, and thus fund a substantial social housing element."

Notes to Editors

Chris Huhne's full article is available from: http://www.ippr.org/juncture/171/11575/lib-labism-in-2015-the-prospects-for-a-radical-coalition

IPPR recommended a new generation of New Towns in 'Together at Home: a new strategy for housing', available here: http://ippr.org/publication/55/9279/together-at-home-a-new-strategy-for-housing