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What does the Limehouse Declaration have to teach us today?
With widespread rumours about a new “centrist” party soon to be sprung on the nation CALVIN TUCKER recalls the last time the Establishment used the same trick to hoodwink the electorate
The founders of the Social Democratic Party from left: Shirley Williams, David Owen, Roy Jenkins and Bill Rodgers

As Labour move ahead of the Tories in the opinion polls, the Westminster bubble is awash with rumours that a cross-party group of anti-Corbyn politicians, businessmen, celebrities and media pundits are plotting to set up a new “centrist” party to oppose “extremism” and keep Britain in the EU.

Names associated with the alleged “plot” include Tony Blair, Chris Leslie, Chuka Umunna, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable, leading Tory MP Anna Soubry and the founder of LoveFilm, Simon Franks.  

According to the Guardian, the proposed new party “has access to up to £50m in funding.”

Arguments about the past matter because they are really debates about the present and the future

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