- 12 updates
Clegg: Proud coalitions can work
Deputy PM Nick Clegg has said he is "proud" that both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have demonstrated that Coalition governments can work and refused to rule out entering another powersharing government at the next election.
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Clegg refuses to rule out prospect of another Coalition
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has refused to rule out entering another Coalition with the Conservatives at the next election.
Mr Clegg said he would be "comfortable" with the idea of another Coalition if the British people decided that it was the only outcome that can provide a "stable and legitimate government".
Clegg: 'I'm proud we have shown Coalition can work'
Nick Clegg has said he is "proud" that both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have demonstrated that Coalition governments can work.
Mr Clegg admitted that he and David Cameron sometimes experienced "stark differences" in opinion, but insisted both worked in a "grown up way" to ensure the Government delivered on issues like social care.
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Lib Dems have 'guaranteed greater fairness' in Coalition
Nick Clegg has praised the Liberal Democrats for acting as a "guarantee of greater fairness" within the Coalition.
The Deputy Prime Minister revealed that the Liberal Democrats had blocked some Conservative policies that he described as "unacceptable to me and unacceptable to many people in Britain".
Mr Clegg added said the Liberal Democrats had "held their nerve" and were now beginning to see the start of an economic recovery.
The Chipper Mr Clegg
Ukip leader branded 'Nigel Mirage' by Lib Dem MEP
Ukip leader Nigel Farage spends most of his working time as an MEP in the pub, according to a senior Liberal Democrat.
Fiona Hall MEP, leader of the Liberal Democrats' European Parliamentary Party said the Ukip leader spent so much of his working time away from the European Parliament he was now known as "Mr Mirage".
Speaking at the Lib Dems conference, she said:
"Of course there are things we want to change at a European level. We'd like to get rid of Nigel Farage for a start. Actually I think we've succeeded on that one already. He is so rarely seen in the European Parliament that people now call him Nigel Mirage.
"While Lib Dem MEPs are working to get the best deal for their constituents, Mr Mirage is down the pub."
Danny Alexander warns of 'nutty' Tory backbenchers
Danny Alexander warned that the trade unions were pulling Labour to the left and "nutty" Conservative MPs were dragging their party to the right.
The chief secretary to the treasury said: "We think it's really important we don't have a government of one party in the next parliament. The Conservatives, increasingly lurching off to the right, they would give you the wrong sort of recovery, Labour can't be trusted to keep the economy strong.
"I think that for a lot of people in this country, who want politics to be located in the centre ground, not dragged off to the left by trade unions or dragged off to the right by some of the more nutty backbenchers in the Conservative Party."
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Danny Alexander: £50,000 tax band is 'nonsense'
Danny Alexander told BBC Radio 5 Live an email suggesting a £50,000 tax band was "total nonsense and I don't know quite where that came from or how it happened".
Asked whether the mansion tax plan would form a "red line" in any negotiations for a coalition after 2015 Mr Alexander said:
Lib Dems will 'keep on' cutting taxes for low earners
The Lib Dems will keep cutting taxes for low and middle income earners because "we know that you need a bit more money in your pockets", treasury secretary Danny Alexander has said.
Liberal Democrats go after 'very wealthy'
Taxes on the "very wealthy" will be one of the Lib Dems' primary targets over the next parliament, a leading figure within the party will announce.
Danny Alexander will also take a pop at the Conservative policy of tax breaks for married couples.
Setting out measures to deal with the cost of living in his speech to the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow, he will say:
Better economic future 'only' because of Lib Dems
The Lib Dems should take more credit for the economic recovery and stick to measures which are designed to "eliminate" the structural deficit "by the middle of next Parliament", Danny Alexander will say later today.
He will tell delegates at the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow:
Latest ITV News reports
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The Chipper Mr Clegg
The lack of drama at this year's conference may explain why Nick Clegg looks so extraordinarily chipper.