Top Tory admits Govt 'broken'

Lord Strathclyde became "very frustrated with the level of dysfunctionality" between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in the Lords, Political Editor Tom Bradby reports:

Lord Strathclyde, who today resigned as Leader of the House of Lords, admitted that frustration at Liberal Democrat rebellions in the second chamber had at times led him to complain the coalition was "broken", in an interview with Channel 4 News.

But he insisted that overall the power-sharing deal had been a great success and said the timing of his departure was "completely unconnected" to the launch of the mid-term review.

Lord Strathclyde told Channel 4 News: "I'm sure that at times of irritation over the course of the last 18 months, I might well have said that.

"But in fact the coalition is remarkably stable and we saw today between David Cameron and Nick Clegg a very strong personal chemistry and a real desire to make this coalition continue and work successfully right until the next general election.

"It is a good relationship because we understand the needs of the country and we are going to deliver on it."

The Prime Minister and his Deputy made it clear that the Coalition Government intends to go the distance and work together until the 2015 General Election. Political Editor Tom Bradby reports:

Read: Tom Bradby's analysis on the mid-term review

Number 10 has covered the Coalition Government's mid-term review on the social media site Storify.

Labour leader Ed Miliband accused the Coalition of being responsible for an economic plan that "isn't working", together with a string of broken promises.

The Prime Minister said he would support the continuation of televised general election debates between the party leaders, introduced in 2010 for the first time.

He said: "On TV debates, I'm in favour of them, I think they are good and I think we should go on having them, and I will play my part in trying to make that happen."

Mr Cameron has previously indicated that he might want changes in the precise format for the debates. Today he said he did not feel that they had affected the result in 2010.

He said: "I think actually from memory the polls going into the start of the last election were pretty similar to the polls coming out of the last election, so I suspect the result would have been pretty much the same anyway."

Our Political Editor Tom Bradby said many people would wonder what the point is of today's report. He said most people would focus instead on the economy and the chances of a triple-dip recession.

Responding to David Cameron's comment that the Coalition was a 'Ronseal deal', Nick Clegg said there was no question that the two leaders remained committed to working together.