Iron Fist In A Velvet Glove?
The Unexpected Caretaker Premiership of Michael Foot
1977
Statement From The Labour Party and Liberal Party regarding the terms of co-operation
This afternoon the leaderships of the Labour and Liberal parties agreed to a co-operative agreement in order to provide the country with a government that is strong and practical enough to face the challenges that we face at the present time.
This is a pact of co-operation and not a full coalition government. The Labour Party is the sole governing party in the United Kingdom and there are to be no ministerial changes.
What will occur however is that they will be regular consultative meetings between both parties over matters of mutual concern. The results of these meetings will then be discussed between the party leaders.
The pact will be reviewed after one parliamentary session and decisions regarding future steps will be taken then.
This country faces a challenge the magnitude of which has not been seen since the war. Then as now ideological differences are to be put aside and we must work together to deal with those issues.
Signed
Right Honourable James Callaghan MP PC for the Labour Party
Right Honourable David Steel MP PC for the Liberal Party
ADDENDUM
The two parties have also decided on representation on the Inter-Party Consultative Committee.
For the Labour Party, the representatives will be Michael Foot and Shirley Williams while the Liberal representatives will be David Steel and John Pardoe.
