Ed Balls hints at possible Labour-Lib Dem coalition after 'friendly chat' with Nick Clegg
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Ed Balls has hinted at a possible coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats after having a “friendly chat” with Nick Clegg.
The shadow chancellor did not rule out entering a coalition with the party after next year’s election in an interview with the New Statesman.
He added: “I think what you always have to do is deal with politics as you find it.”
Mr Balls said he’d had a “nice chat” with the Deputy Prime Minister and that he understood his decision to form a government with the Conservatives in 2010, despite previously saying that any co-operation between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was conditional on Mr Clegg’s removal.
He told the New Statesman: “I may disagree with some of the things he has supported but I have no reason to say anything nasty about him as a person.”
The two chatted on Twitter yesterday, when Mr Clegg tweeted “Ed Balls” hours after the interview was published, in a reference to the Labour politician’s accidental tweet of his own name in 2011 that went viral.
Mr Balls swiftly replied: “I agree with Nick” – harking back to the “Clegg-mania” leading up to the last general election.
Many people speculated that the tweet from Mr Clegg’s account was a joke by a hacker but his party’s press office confirmed it was genuine.
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