Is the deep freeze between Labour and Clegg beginning to thaw?

In the immediate aftermath of the General Election, there was one name that, if mentioned in private, could cause near apoplexy amongst senior Labour MPs. “I don’t want to talk about him. Ever”, one Shadow Cabinet member told me back in late 2010 when I asked how they thought he was settling in as Deputy PM. For Labour activists – many of whom had already taken a visceral dislike to the Lib Dems after hard-foughtlocal election campaigns – the anger was stronger still. They were “yellow Tories”. They had rolled over and allowed the Tories their own way on almost every major issue of the day. The “Tory-led” government of which Clegg and co were a part was almost indistinguishable from a full-blooded Tory government (for what it’s worth, that’s still my view).

When the Lib Dems rolled over on tuition fees – their flagship election pledge – the opprobrium that rained down upon them was brutal and deserved. And no-one received more bile than Nick Clegg.

For many in the Labour Party, a coalition with the Lib Dems post 2015 was thought unthinkable. It would be a slap in the face to the voters who have left the Lib Dems and switched to Labour in their droves. It would be the pinnacle of “nothing changes” if the same faces stayed in power despite their government and their party being turfed out.

Opinions have softened somewhat within the PLP (although less so amongst activists) and many MPs now see a possible coalition with the Lib Dems as an unpleasant but acceptable second choice to a majority Labour government. For their part, the Lib Dems appear to be quietly staking out their position in the event of another hung parliament. But for many in the Labour Party – myself included – there is one red line that would be hard to cross. Nick Clegg would need to go. He demanded Gordon Brown’s head, and when the time comes, Labour should demand his.

Yet in recent months it has begun to seem like the early rhetoric from the party leadership – from Miliband down – that Labour couldn’t work with Clegg has been softened. Miliband has spoken more positively about working with the Lib Dem leader, and on some issues there has been a clear rapprochement. Yet the confirmation of this change of heart appeared to come today when Ed Balls (a tribalist, rather than a Miliband-esque progressive-pluralist) appeared to suggest in an interview with the New Statesman that he’d be willing to work in coalition with Clegg. The Shadow Chancellor told George Eaton:

“We’re fighting hard for a majority, who knows how things will turn out. Very many Labour Party members, voters, supporters, would find that [a Coalition] very difficult and some Liberal Democrat voters would find that very difficult as well, but we’ll deal with the situation as we find it.”

Evidently his comments got Nick Clegg’s attention too. It was only a few hours later than Clegg and Balls began what looks akin to Twitter flirting, with Clegg tweeting “Ed Balls”, with Balls replying with “I agree with Nick”. One can only imagine the “japes” and “bants” that these two might have in Cabinet together (although it all jars slightly with Clegg’s Christmas attack on Balls, and Balls’ previous comments about working with Clegg).

Yet whilst the party leadership might be warming to the idea of working with Clegg – or at least resigning themselves to the fact that it may be a possibility – I’m less sure that activists feel the same way. As Balls says, “Very many Labour Party members, voters, supporters, would find that [a Coalition] very difficult”. A “rose garden moment” between Labour and the Lib Dems seems unlikely – we’re all far more cynical about coalitions now. But even a less passionate coming together could still turn stomachs, and dampen the expectations and enthusiasm of activists ahead of election day.

When approaching the Lib Dems, tread carefully…or contingency planning for a hung Parliament may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.