Tweet
12 December 2010
Last updated at 06:48 ET
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition is "rock solid" and will last a full five years, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has said.
He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that a number of Lib Dem MPs were unhappy with the tuition fees rise, but not with the coalition as a whole.
He said it was bringing in key Lib Dem policies such as a referendum on voting and taking poorer people out of tax.
John Denham told the same show Labour "was reaching out" to unhappy Lib Dems.
Mr Alexander dismissed speculation over a leadership challenge to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg after more than a third of the party's MPs rebelled over fees and a slump in opinion polls.
"I just think there's nothing in these stories at all," he said. "Nick Clegg's leadership has been strong and purposeful, and it's taken the Lib Dems into government.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
"This coalition is rock solid. There is a real sense of purpose about this coalition, it is going to last over the five years because we have a very strong and radical programme of policies to deliver.
"There were a number of Lib Dems unhappy about the fees issue but actually on the coalition itself the party is united.
"The only way out of this is to continue to deliver our policies to do the right things for the right reasons. I think people will come back to the Lib Dems as they see us doing that."
Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes echoed that view, telling Sky News that the party always knew tuition fees was going to be difficult.
But they would recover by coming forward with "distinctive and radical" Lib Dem policies on issues such as civil liberties.
Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major also dismissed talk that the coalition was under threat because of unhappiness amongst both Conservative and Lib Dem MPs.
Sir John said that there might be difficulties at the moment but people had to "hold their courage", and things would come right.
He said that the Lib Dems would share the credit from voters ahead of the next election for the work the coalition had done in sorting out the economic situation.
Sir John also dismissed the idea of a merger between the Conservatives and Lib Dems, although he repeated his belief that the coalition could continue through an election.
And he said shadow business secretary John Denham's comments earlier on the programme - when he said they would "reach out" to unhappy Lib Dems - made "my blood boil".
He said the Conservatives and Lib Dems had come together in the national interest and said this was not a time "to be playing party games".
Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software
He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that a number of Lib Dem MPs were unhappy with the tuition fees rise, but not with the coalition as a whole.
He said it was bringing in key Lib Dem policies such as a referendum on voting and taking poorer people out of tax.
John Denham told the same show Labour "was reaching out" to unhappy Lib Dems.
Mr Alexander dismissed speculation over a leadership challenge to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg after more than a third of the party's MPs rebelled over fees and a slump in opinion polls.
"I just think there's nothing in these stories at all," he said. "Nick Clegg's leadership has been strong and purposeful, and it's taken the Lib Dems into government.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
The only way out of this is to continue to deliver our policies to do the right things for the right reasons. I think people will come back to the Lib Dems. ”
End Quote
Danny Alexander
Chief Sec to the Treasury
"This coalition is rock solid. There is a real sense of purpose about this coalition, it is going to last over the five years because we have a very strong and radical programme of policies to deliver.
"There were a number of Lib Dems unhappy about the fees issue but actually on the coalition itself the party is united.
"The only way out of this is to continue to deliver our policies to do the right things for the right reasons. I think people will come back to the Lib Dems as they see us doing that."
Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes echoed that view, telling Sky News that the party always knew tuition fees was going to be difficult.
But they would recover by coming forward with "distinctive and radical" Lib Dem policies on issues such as civil liberties.
Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major also dismissed talk that the coalition was under threat because of unhappiness amongst both Conservative and Lib Dem MPs.
Sir John said that there might be difficulties at the moment but people had to "hold their courage", and things would come right.
He said that the Lib Dems would share the credit from voters ahead of the next election for the work the coalition had done in sorting out the economic situation.
Sir John also dismissed the idea of a merger between the Conservatives and Lib Dems, although he repeated his belief that the coalition could continue through an election.
And he said shadow business secretary John Denham's comments earlier on the programme - when he said they would "reach out" to unhappy Lib Dems - made "my blood boil".
He said the Conservatives and Lib Dems had come together in the national interest and said this was not a time "to be playing party games".
Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software