LibDem Ministers fear ConDem coalition could kill party...

The penny has finally dropped on the LibDums who sold their principles for power. Seems some of Nick Clegg's band are warning that the Liberal Democrat party could be destroyed if the public believe they are being used to front the Tory plan to slash public services under the guise of cutting the deficit.

What took them so long to realise what was plain to see from the start...?

Today's Indy splashes on the story.

LibDem pancake tossers leave a nasty taste...

Crowd pans LibDem Council's running ban

LibDems can still win Crewe and Nantwich

A bad result in Crewe and Nantwich for Labour and a good one for the Tories...but I had to smile at the tactics of the by-election machine that is the LibDems...which produced this BBC headline two days before polls opened.

True, the Crewe result was not as bad for the LDs as for Labour, and they were coming from third place.

But despite the LibDems hype and spin, the actual result was the worst LibDem by election performance in a Labour for many years, and certainly since 1997...

Never mind global warming, look who's on telly...!

As world leaders grapple with climate change, LibDem leadership are worried about something much closer to home...the number of repeats on TV this Christmas.

All politics is local, of course and it may - sadly - be true that more of us are interested in what's on telly over the next few days than saving the planet for future generations.

But as usual, the LibDems face both ways at the same time...

As their culture spokesman Don Foster whinged about what's on the box over the festive season, he revealed that one of his personal favourites was the most repeated shows ever.

The Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special!

Good to see there's nothing wrong with Don's sense of humour...

No doubt he'll be singing along with the rest of us when Eric'n'Ern sing us out once again with their signature song...Bring Me Sunshine!

Did you see the LibDem leadership duo squabbling on live TV...? UPDATED

LibDem leadership hopefuls Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne apparently squabbled like kids when they came head-to-head on today BBC's Politics Show on BBC1...

Missed the spat myself as I was on the way back from the national Labour Students conference in Grantham where I was honoured again to be a speaker...

I caught the end of the Politics Show, when presenter Jon Sopel says if you want to see today's broadcast, including the Clegg-Huhne fallout, go the the Politics Show website.

I just have done, but frustratingly the 'see again' feature hasn't yet been updated and still repeats last week's Politics Show...Very annoying.

Did anyone see it...is it worth repeating?

UPDATE: The clip is now on the BBC site and they go at each other like rats in a sack: Huhne accuses Clegg of 'flip floppery', trying to face both ways, allegations that Clegg is a 'calamity' and Clegg fighting to defend himself.

Less than edifying, and certainly fiercer than anything we ever saw between the two Davids - Steel and Owen - when the Libs had two leaders, and a rare but real insight behind internal tensions and disunity in today's LibDem party...

Who said come back Ming Campbell or Chas Kennedy...?

Police support officer saves drowning motorists: but LibDems join Tories in attack on police...

Sad to hear LibDem peer Shirley Williams' cheap and wholly unwarranted attack on the police on Any Questions this weekend.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 programme, she said:

It would be nice if Neighbourhood Policemen actually saw themselves as responsible for saving drowning kids...it seems extraordinary that they think they can stand to one side and watch it happen.

It was a disgraceful reference to the actions in the summer of two community police officers called to a Wigan lake where a young boy had drowned.

As I reported following a similar attack by David Cameron in his Conference speech, it has been established that the police officers did not stand to one side and watch.

The inquest heard that sadly, the boy was probably dead before the officers arrived and there was nothing they could do to save his life: No-one knew which part of a lake the size of a football pitch he was in, and visibility was nil in the black water.

Of course, the real problem for both the Tories and the LibDems is that they opposed the very idea of police community support officers when they were introduced by Labour - and now they can't bear to admit they were wrong.

PCSOs - and neighbourhood policing - have been an enormous success.

Maybe either David Cameron or Shirley Williams will find it in their hearts to recognise the bravery of the PCSO officer left injured in a 'hit and run' as he attempted to talk to a driver.

What about honouring the PCSO praised in tonight's Peterborough Evening Telegraph who waded into flood waters and saved two people trapped in a car..?

Don't hold your breath...

LibDum devious plot spectacularly backfires...

This is a newspaper's view of the LibDums after a devious plot they hatched to embarrass the Tories went spectacularly wrong: Would you believe it, the hapless LibDum plotter mistakenly left his plans on his opponent's answer phone...!!

Now the Tories on Tynedale Council are demanding that the bungling local Leader of the LibDems falls on his sword after his spectacular gaffe, which is helpfully explained blow-by-blow in today's Newcastle Journal.

As well as the specially commissioned cartoon ripping the mickey out of the LibDums, the Journal also carried a full transcript of the telephone message left on a Conservative councillor's answer machine by mistake.

The Journal is, of course, the local morning paper in Newcastle where the LibDems run the local city council.

Bet they don't see the funny side of their colleague's cock-up.

Guess who says: 'I've had my shot...'

Which former LibDem Leader gave this answer on Question Time tonight when asked if he'd be a candidate to follow Ming Campbell?

It could only be Charlie Kennedy, who stepped down as Leader after having rather more shots than was good for him.

"Shafted by a complete shower of shits..."

How LibDem MP Mike Hancock tonight summed up why Ming Campbell resigned as party leader.

And you can see what he means, as Ming wasn't even at his own resignation announcement.

And tonight, what an appalling TV spectacle we are subjected to, as Deputy Leader Vince Cable and Party President Simon Hughes appearing as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, together astonishingly mournful on Newsnight and other media faking surprise and shock.

They looked like a pair of guilty schoolboys, caught red-handed by teacher.

Astonishing that both Ming's Deputy Vince, and Party President Simon were forced to admit that neither of them had even spoken with Ming today.

As I posted at lunchtime today, Dick Taverne put the knife in, claiming that Ming at 66, was just too old...

So Vince has stepped into the breach.

He's only 64...!

So who do BBC Newsnight turn to for comment...?

Step forward Mark Oaten, who was forced to drop out of the contest for rather unsavourary reasons 18 months ago when their last Leader was stabbed in the back...

Have the back-stabbers actually thought that their problem might not be their Leaders...?

It might just be them!

Editor stands up to LibDem tricks

MP Tom Watson praises the editor of a local paper for standing up to a favourite LibDem dirty trick.

I've seen the LibDems pull this stunt in a number of by-elections to try to fool the voters and agree with Tom that they need to be challenged.

Well done, Mr Editor.

Game up for the Mingers...?

Could Ming Campbell be the first casualty of Gordon Brown's decision not to hold an early general election...Could have been a Contender thinks so.

LibDems were gagging to get the general election behind them so they could move ahead, sack Ming and hand Nick Clegg the poisoned chalice.

Will he or won't he...?

Thanks to the Torygraph, we discovered today that Gordon Brown is on course for a landslide victory if he calls an early General Election.

That's the prediction of their latest YouGov poll which gives Labour a lead which would deliver an increased Labour majority of over 100 if translated into a general election.

The Prime Minister of course, will decide when to call the only poll that counts.
But today's YouGov poll - and tomorrow's similar good news in another poll for the Mirror - has ramped up election fever on the eve of Labour's Conference here in Bournemouth.

Gordon was giving no clues tonight at a welcome event for North West delegates he attended with his wife Sarah.

But he was on top form - and given a rousing reception as he congratulated North West activists on their recent wins in council by-elections in Rossendale and Darwen where Labour took two seats from the Tories on Thursday. He also mentioned Liverpool where Labour won a seat from the LibDems last week.

He didn't have to mention the spectacular 17% swing from Tories to Labour at a by election in Worcester where the Tories lost control of the council in the early hours of yesterday....no doubt he saved that one for the West Midlands Reception!

Today's correction on NHS finances...

Interesting correction on NHS finances in today's Times: Yesterday, the Thunderer reported the East of England Strategic Health Authority as expected to slip into deficit this year. Today, The Times points out that in fact the Authority is on target to achieve a surplus of £30 million in the current year!

So The Times joins the Tories and the LibDems in admitting they've been telling porkies over NHS finances.