The Tory negotiating team

As the BBC reports that David Cameron has arrived at the negotiations between the Tories and the Lib Dems it is worth taking a look at the Tory negotiating team. It has been put together to try and maximise the prospects of a deal. Ed Llewellyn, who worked for Paddy Ashdown in Bosnia and is close friends with many Liberal Democrats, and Oliver Letwin are there to make the Lib Dems think that if these guys are Tories then a deal with them wouldn’t be so bad after all. Indeed, when I told one Tory that Llewellyn and Letwin were on the negotiating team, he shot back: ‘So  Llewellyn and Letwin  are negotiating for the Lib Dems. Whose doing the job for us?’ ’ Hague is there because of his status as a former leader and his immense patience, while Osborne is charged with making sure the deal and its details actually benefits the Tories.