Ashdown teaming up with Jonathan Porritt, Caroline Criado-Perez and others in new political movement

Readers of Liberal Democrat Newswire have already had details of Paddy Ashdown’s political realignment plans, but now The Guardian has more:

A new cross-party movement for progressive liberalism that could endorse candidates in favour of the EU and immigration at the next election is being set up by politicians, celebrities and intellectuals.

The initiative has the support of Jonathon Porritt, the environmentalist, Caroline Criado-Perez, the feminist writer and Luke Pritchard from the band Kooks, as a space for people who want a voice for openness and tolerance.

It also has the backing of Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader who was a key figure in the Lib-Lab discussions of the 1990s, and has been discussed across party lines at Westminster…

If the movement were to succeed in attracting subscribers to a website, it could intervene in politics by recommending specific candidates at the next election.

For that last point, a largely unnoticed change in election law during the 2010-15 Parliament is important, as covered in 6 ways to make cross-party political deals work.

UPDATE: The movement has now been launched, called More United.