Crunch time for boundary reform today. The LibDems will be ditching collective responsibility to vote against the Coalition for the first time, and defeat is on the cards for Dave unless SNP and DUP MPs can be persuaded to help. Tory rebels are made up of the three Davi(e)s: David, Philip and Glyn. A deal with the DUP would bring the government eight votes closer to the 326 target, but would likely mean exempting Northern Ireland from the review. The SNP insist no deal will be done though that hasn’t stopped their MPs openly flirting:
Boundaries vote tomorrow. Because of unequal size of constituencies across the UK Lab has a start of up to 30 seats in next UK election
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) January 28, 2013
Boundaries vote tomorrow. Should we give Labour 30 seats of a start to help keep Scotland free of Tory Government?
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) January 28, 2013
It would come at a very high price but works in both the SNP and Tory interest. The unlikely deal has four hours…
UPDATE: It’s over Dave.
Angus Robertson to confirm SNP WILL vote against the Govt and the boundaries review tonight. That's the final nail.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) January 29, 2013