Mary Riddel wrote this in the Telegraph yesterday:

‘Some Blairites in Cabinet think that a Lab/Lib alliance may not only be vital but desirable. Nick Clegg’s protestations of impartiality are sounding thinner by the day, as he and Vince Cable attack the economic policy of George Osborne (where IS he, by the way?). Lord Adonis is no maverick. Like Alistair Darling, the architect of high speed rail is rated (even by Mr Campbell) as one of Labour’s unsung heroes. For him to broach the delicate issue of tactical voting suggests backing in high places…’

Adonis himself wrote a long piece in the Guardian, almost suggesting that as Nicker’s Knickers are now off, he should stop prick-teasing and do the business:

‘Issue by issue, during the first nine days of the campaign the Lib Dems have supported Labour against the Tories…..they supported our NI rise and opposed David Cameron’s £6bn of unspecified public service cuts for the coming year. They opposed, with us, the Tory married tax allowance and the likely Tory VAT increase to pay for projected spending plans. They supported our referendum on electoral reform and the removal of the hereditary peers from the Lords, which the Tories blocked in the parliamentary “wash-up”. They opposed the Tory manifesto for the same reasons as Gordon Brown – that Britain needs a fair and open society, not a DIY society with the state leaving the vulnerable on their own. We also united in supporting the right of gay couples to stay in B&Bs, against Tory shadow home secretary Chris Grayling’s attack on equality legislation….’

It’s all good ground-preparing stuff….a bit like the walk-on cameo part awarded to proportional representation in the LibDem manifesto….which LibDem HQ continues to play down. This is a bit like Harriet Harman playing down the decision to undergo a sex-change. The fact is that gossips fingered Adonis two days ago as a likely Liblab go-between, and then the next day there he is in the dear old one-time Liberal-supporting Grauniad, pushing for a bit of Cleggover. Add this to Nick’s omission of PR as a bargaining chip on Paxo, and….well to be honest, I think the onus is on Clegg to deny it rather than The Slog just keep on producing fingerprints all over the gun.

But then, I spotted this little gem in Nigel Morris’s largely favourable Indie review of the Cleggifesto yesterday (my italics)

‘The party favours the “single transferable vote” method of proportional representation, but would find common ground with Gordon Brown who has promised a referendum on a switch to the “alternative vote” system…’

Well-spotted, Nige. Indeed he would – if Adonis is including Gordon in his negotiation strategy: it could be he’d prefer to talk to Anyone But Gordon.

Say ‘AV’ (Alternative Vote) to Tories of course, and they shrivel up. This is hardly surprising, given that under an AV system the Conservatives could never be the majority Party. AV is in fact even more unrepresentative than First Past The Post…but it favours the Lib/Lab switching voter – a far more common species than the Tory deserter. Fancy that.

Nick has the scent of power in his nostrils now, and nothing will stop him, short of what I still expect – an outright Tory win. But should that not come to pass, I would make two points: Tories – be very afraid; and genuine cap L Liberals – you’re being sold down the river by the social democrats.