Rift opens between Tories and Lib Dems over benefits

Relations between the Tories and Lib Dems have descended to a new low after Danny Alexander leaked what he called "secret" plans for £8bn of welfare cuts by the Conservative party to the Guardian.

George Osborne, the Tory chancellor, has always been clear that his party would cut £12bn of welfare spending in the next parliament as part of its attempt to cut the deficit. But so far he has only identified £3bn of those savings via freezing working-age benefits for two years.

Mr Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, claimed that the Tory plans would include a further £8bn of cuts to tax credits and child benefit.

The senior Lib Dem accused his erstwhile partners of trying to "con" the British people by refusing to spell out the details of the welfare cuts until after polling day.

Mr Alexander said that in June 2012 the coalition's "quad" - its four most senior cabinet members - were sent a paper by Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary.

The document, called "Welfare reform quad summer reading pack", outlined plans for the £8bn welfare reforms.

The Tories branded the allegations as "desperate stuff" on the eve of a poll where the Lib Dems are expected to lose around half of their 57 seats in parliament. Nick Clegg's party was now willing to say "anything" to get attention, a spokesman said.

Mr Alexander told the BBC on Thursday that the "easiest way to clear this up is for David Cameron . . . to spell out the welfare cuts". "No one knows what the Tories are going to cut because they won't tell anyone. It's incumbent on the Conservatives to spell out [their plans]," he said.

"It's not credible for the Conservatives to say they don't know what they're going to do. If they are proposing £12bn of welfare savings without knowing what they're going to do, then that's highly reckless. Equally, if they do know what they want to do, then they're not telling the British people and that is deceitful."

The new rift comes amid questions over the Lib Dems' role in any future coalition - with some party members reluctant to take part in any deal whatsoever.

Mr Clegg - or his successor if he is forced to resign - will have to get any new deal through a vote of the party's MPs, governing bodies and grassroots members at a special meeting.

The Times reported on Thursday that some members were uncomfortable with the idea of a three-way deal with the Tories and Ulster's rightwing Democratic Unionist party - which could be needed to get enough votes for a majority.

"The party grassroots are not at all keen on another Tory deal," said Evan Harris, a member of the two crucial internal party committees.

<

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

However many Lib Dems share Mr Clegg's reluctance to work with the Labour party, having been traduced by some of its senior figures over the past five years.

Norman Baker, a leftwing former Home Office minister, told the FT it would be easier to work with the more "transactional" Tories.

Most senior figures have deliberately maintained a policy of equidistance between the Tories and Labour in order to keep their options open after May 7. Even leftwing Tim Farron, the bookies' favourite to replace Mr Clegg, has said he could work with either.

The final decision will ultimately hinge on which of the major parties gets the most seats and - crucially - whether they can put together an agreement that reaches the required number of MPs.

Mr Alexander said the Tories' proposed cuts included removing child benefit from families with more than two children, removing the higher rate child benefit from the first child, means-testing child benefit and removing it from 16-19 year olds.

"I am lifting the lid on this now because the Conservatives are trying to con the British people by keeping their planned cuts secret until after the election," Mr Alexander said in a statement.

"They may give with one hand but they will take away twice as much as with the other."

A Tory spokesman said the party did not recognise the proposals and they were "definitely not our policy."

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation