James O'Brien 10am - 1pm
It's time to bury the hatchet and work with Labour, Lib Dem MP says
13 January 2020, 10:33
Layla Moran would love for the Liberal Democrats to work with Labour once they have a new leader.
Iain Dale asked: "Do you think your party needs to reevaluate its attitude to the Labour Party, given that they're inevitably going to have somebody as leader who doesn't have the baggage that he's had?"
Moran replied: "I think you're absolutely right about that. If I reflect back to 2017 when we unexpectedly took my seat, Oxford West and Abingdon, off the Conservatives, it was because we created a truly progressive alliance of all parties, including Labour Party members and voters.
"Some of whom actually went out and campaigned for me in order to overturn that seat. This time, that happened again because we have that kind of relationship. It wasn't an official thing at all, it was a coalition of voters."
She added: "I think we've got an opportunity now to truly bury the hatchet with the Labour Party."
She spoke about "sadness" of the Finchley and Golders Green results, whereby "tribal" Labour campaigners worked against Luciana Berg who was in a position to win the seat as a Liberal Democrat.
Moran added: "I do think, as progressive parties, we need to find a way of working together."
She wouldn't rule out having a formal relationship with Labour in the next election.
Moran continued: "The Labour Party and Liberal Democrat Party actually have much much more in common than I would say divides us."
She also said: "There's common ground between us, I'd love to be able to explore that with them."