general election  Jim Pickard  It is hard to know sometimes
whether Simon Hughes is playing a fiendishly complex strategic
game in order to leverage anti-Tory forces within his own
Liberal Democrat party and thus enhance his own reputation. Or
whether he just can’t resist saying controversial things.  So it
was with the VAT rise. Tuition fees. And with council housing.
And now Mr Hughes (deputy leader the Lib Dems) is insisting that
there will be no electoral pact between his party and the Tories
come the next general election. (This is in contrast to Tories
such as backbencher Mark Field, who has proposed a non-
aggression agreement). Read more