Faron and Clegg clash over Coalition

The Coalition could break up before the general election, the Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron suggested at the parties conference in Birmingham. Mr Farron made the comment in a conference speech which saw him fire a barrage of criticism at the Conservatives. Mr Farron made the comment in a conference speech which saw him fire a barrage of criticism at the Conservatives. The Coalition Agreement commits the two parties to remain in office until May 2015. But Mr Farron, a leading figure on the Left of the Liberal Democrats, said that the partnership could end in as little as three years. “If it’s a marriage, well it’s a good-natured one, but I’m afraid it’s temporary,” Mr Farron told activists in Birmingham. “I don’t want to upset you and it’s not going to happen for three or four years, but I’m afraid divorce is inevitable.” However, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader, insisted that the Coalition would survive the 2015 election. “I intend to see it well beyond one term,” he said in a BBC interview. His view is clearly not shared by the rest of his party, with even supportive ministers suggesting he could leave before the election. – the Telegraph

Cable to set out workers rights over boardroom pay

Vince Cable will set out plans on Monday to give workers and company shareholders rights to call time on spiralling boardroom pay as part of a Liberal Democrat-led drive to champion “responsible capitalism” and retain wavering public support for the coalition’s austerity measures. The business secretary will also announce that all directors of firms listed on the London Stock Exchange will be required to set out in a comprehensible form the total value of their salary, pensions, share schemes and bonuses. Remuneration committees will also be forced to explain in annual company reports why they have paid bonuses that are not justified by performance, or are out of line with their pay policy. Cable will argue that for Britain to be “turned around” requires giving people a sense of a shared society. That means, he will say, “reducing our appalling inequalities of income and wealth, and creating a responsible capitalism. I want a real sense of solidarity, which means a narrowing of inequalities.”  – the Guardian

Top Tory demands EU vote

Mark Pritchard, the secretary of the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs, is the most senior Tory yet to demand a vote on Britain’s membership of the European Union following the eurozone crisis. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Pritchard says that the EU has become an “occupying force” which is eroding British sovereignty and that the “unquestioning support” of backbenchers is no longer guaranteed. He says the Government should hold a referendum next year on whether Britain should have a “trade only” relationship with the EU, rather than the political union which has evolved “by stealth”. He warns that the Conservatives will see constituents “kick back” if taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for the failure of “unreformed and lazy” eurozone countries to introduce fully-fledged austerity measures. Mr Pritchard is a leading figure in a group of 120 Conservative MPs who are pushing the Prime Minister to set out a “clear plan” for pulling back from Europe. – the Telegraph

Clegg warns Cameron on Europe

Nick Clegg will veto any proposals by the Conservatives to repatriate powers from Europe if treaty renegotiations are needed to save the eurozone. Party officials said Mr Clegg had made it clear to David Cameron that any attempt to translate euro-sceptic Tory rhetoric into policy would be opposed by the Liberal Democrats. Mr Clegg is expected to address the question of Europe in his speech on Wednesday and will stress the need to help eurozone countries rather than use the crisis to leverage powers from Brussels. The Lib Dem leadership expects the issue of Europe to dominate the Conservative conference in Manchester the week after next, and are expecting tough words from the leadership to appease the party faithful. But they are insistent that this should not be fed through into policymaking or the position of the Government in dealing with the European financial crisis, which is likely to dominate autumn’s political agenda. – the Independent

Grieve under pressure to block Met on journalists sources

The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, is facing growing pressure to block an attempt by the Metropolitan police to use the Official Secrets Act to force journalists to reveal their sources. As senior Liberal Democrats indicated that Nick Clegg was “sympathetic” to journalists, police sources also expressed unease after Scotland Yard applied last week for an order under the 1989 act to require the Guardian to identify its sources on phone hacking. One police source said the decision to invoke the act was “likely to end in tears” for the Met. Lib Dem sources said that as deputy prime minister, Clegg was unable to express a view on what action the attorney general should take. But senior Lib Dems lined up at the party conference in Birmingham to call on the attorney general to use his powers to rule that the Yard’s use of the act is not in the public interest. – the Guardian

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