Senior Tory MPs have warned “vote Lib Dem, get Labour” after Sir Ed Davey refused to rule out a Coalition deal with Sir Keir Starmer.
The Liberal Democrat leader said he would not strike an agreement with the Conservatives if there is no outright winner at the next general election but did not do the same for Labour.
Tory chairman Greg Hands warned a vote for the Lib Dems could hand Sir Keir the keys to No 10.
The senior Conservative MP added that any deal between the two parties would leave Brexit at risk.
Mr Hands told the Express: “Sir Ed Davey has let the cat out of the bag. It’s a case of vote Lib Dem, get Labour.
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“He’s already focused on stitching up a deal with Sir Keir Starmer, which would see Britain taken back into the EU through the back door. This new Lib/Lab Pact would come at great cost to the British people.”
In an interview with Sky News on Monday, Sir Ed ruled out any formal or informal agreement with the Tories.
He said: “First of all, I have personally fought the Conservatives all my life, I took my seat from the Conservatives, I fought them at every election, so I and many Liberal Democrat MPs have always been against the Conservatives.
“And even in the coalition we fought them every day, I fought them really hard, and I said when I became leader of the Liberal Democrats that my job was to beat as many Conservative MPs as possible and to do that, the logic is that we would not put the Conservatives back having beaten so many of their MPs.”
But pushed on Labour, he said: “Beyond ruling out a coalition with the Conservatives and any dealing with the Conservatives, I am not going to speculate what else could happen.
“I am clear about our need to beat lots of Conservative MPs to get more Liberal Democrat MPs elected and I am not going to speculate what else may happen after polling day.”
Sir Ed closed the Lib Dem annual conference in Bournemouth yesterday [TUES] with a speech focusing on health policy as the Lib Dems look to win over traditional Tory voters in so-called “blue wall” seats in places like southern England.
