Miliband in fresh appeal to Lib Dems - The Guardian

Ed Miliband will use a speech on the byelection campaign trail in Oldham to appeal to the Lib Dems. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, will tomorrow make a fresh appeal to Liberal Democrats, urging them to work with his party in pursuit of their shared ambition of "progressive" policies.

Miliband will hint that Lib Dem members have already taken part in two major campaigns against coalition policy – one fighting cuts to school sport and a second defending a scheme that provides free books for children.

He will make the comments during a speech in Oldham, where a byelection will be held next week as a result of the removal of its MP, Phil Woolas. He breached election rules by lying about his opponent in campaign literature.

The Labour leader, whose 100th day in the role was yesterday, will call on the people of Oldham East and Saddleworth to treat the byelection as a referendum on the coalition government – and give it a bloody nose.

"The voters of Oldham and Saddleworth have a unique opportunity to send a new year message to this Conservative-led government: you are going too fast and too far on the cuts," Miliband will say. "We are seeing broken promises in Oldham with the plan to take police off the streets. This week the whole country will see another broken promise when VAT rises to 20% ... I urge the voters of Oldham and Saddleworth to make the government sit up and listen."

The speech will have three themes: the economy, young people, and reaching out to other progressive forces – including the Lib Dems.

"We accept that we don't have a monopoly of wisdom as a political party," said a Miliband aide. "Other political parties have sensible ideas and we want to work with those people.."

Some Lib Dems have been sympathetic, including Richard Grayson, a former director of party policy, who is now working with Labour. But others were more cynical. David Hall-Matthews, chair of the Social Liberal Forum, which represents Lib Dems to the left of the party, said Miliband did not want to engage with them in a neutral way but to "peel off" members and persuade them to join Labour. "He is not being very sincere," he said.