Twenty-five Liberal Democrat backbenchers have endorsed a submission to Pay Review bodies and the Treasury, criticising the government proposals for regional pay.
As the organiser, I know opposition runs deeper than that. Ministers, whips and PPSs are tacitly supporting the initiative.
With conference motions on the topic being tabled, and West Country Liberal Democrats firefighting the issue in their local NHS, this is the clearest indication yet of hard Lib Dem opposition to the idea.
However, there are many Conservatives, particularly those representing northern constituencies, who are not persuaded by either economic case or the political wisdom of proceeding with the regionalisation of pay.
Arguing against the current proposals has been like trying to nail jelly to the wall as the government has not made precisely clear what it intends.
What our submission seeks to undermine is the spurious claim that a relative reduction of public sector pay is the key to some sort of economic regeneration in the regions, and not a surefire of locking in economic disparities.
There is real merit in exposing the weaknesses in arguments largely emanating from think tanks based in the south east and ungrounded in the economic realities of the regions.
We have been encouraged by recent statements from the top of our party but also by the quality of the evidence amassed against regionalising pay.
The coalition works well when policy is evidence led and is acting on clear ethical principles. Neither claim can be made about this regional pay kite flying.
To access the paper Regional Pay: An Analysis of the Evidence, click here.
John Pugh is the Liberal Democrat MP for Southport
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