Ed Davey has once again refused to rule out a coalition with Labour in two consecutive interviews yesterday, claiming only that they wouldn’t ally with the Tories because he “fought them at every election”. Starmer is publicly focussed on a “workable majority” and won’t say much else.

The command to remain tight-lipped about the much-anticipated Lib-Lab pact seems not to have reached the local level. Labour have been complaining of the LibDems’ dark art tactics ahead of the Mid Bedfordshire by-election, distributing leaflets with the usual dodgy bar charts. Labour said they had “gone feral” and were breaking the law. Meanwhile, “dry run” cooperation agreements between the two are failing, most recently with the collapse of Oxfordshire council’s “Fair Deal Alliance” on Sunday. Labour officials gave up and blasted the LibDems: “they aren’t interested in working together and instead simply want to score points and pass blame”. Bodes well for future cooperation…