SENIOR members of each of the three main parties on Merseyside had very different reactions to the coalition.

Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Kemp, who leads the party on the Local Government Association, was speaking from Local Government House in Smith Square, London, where Lib -em MPs were meeting with the party’s leadership to approve the coalition deal.

Cllr Kemp said: “My heart would have been in favour of a realignment of the progressive left, but Labour negotiators failed to live up to that and retreated to tribalism.

“Too many of them just want to go into opposition.”

Cllr Kemp had been warned in a letter from his deposed colleagues on Liverpool council that a coalition with the Tories could “wipe us out” in the city.

He said: “I don’t think that will happen, but things are going to be very difficult for us all in public life.

“What we have to do as Liberal Democrats in Liverpool, in these very difficult financial circumstances we’re in, is defend the poorest.

“I would plead with all Liverpool councillors that we need to get together to reform the way we provide local services and to get rid of the bureaucracies and the quangos, otherwise there will be dire cuts.”

Cllr Paul Brant, Labour’s deputy leader in Liverpool, called on “progressive” Liberal Democrats to join forces with his party.

He said: “Those Liberal Democrats with a social conscience will be repelled by this deal with the Tories.

“It is now clear that only the Labour Party will campaign to protect vulnerable communities and public services in Liverpool and the country.

“Labour stands ready to welcome those genuine Lib-Dem members who want to continue to fight against social injustice and to work for a fairer, tolerant and progressive society.”