THE SPECTRE of a Lib-Lab pact crept back on to the political agenda as Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown tonight spelled out his terms for co-operation with a Labour-led coalition government.

It is probably all academic - especially if, as the opinion polls suggest, Labour is heading for a crushing victory.

But one who is treating the idea seriously - and with alarm - is Pendle's Labour MP, Gordon Prentice. Tonight, on TV, he was warning of "riot" in the Parliamentary Labour Party if Tony Blair gets into bed with Paddy.

No doubt, Left-winger Mr Prentice is instinctively opposed to such compromise.

But, coming from Pendle where the Libs rule the council, his thinking is obviously influenced by bitter experience - and dread that, in such a marriage, it would be Labour which would be hen-pecked by a most hard-to-live-with partner.

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