There was some speculation around the European referendum vote in Parliament that Shirley Williams had threatened to defect to Labour if the party didn’t oppose a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Shirley has a letter in today’s Times which is a very fulsome a rebuttal of those claims, including this bit:
I have never threatened to defect to Labour on any issue or at any time since I helped to found the Lib Dem party.
and
No one contacted me to ask whether this was true.


