David Cameron to go ahead on boundary changes

 

Suggested Topics

David Cameron today signalled his intention to press ahead with a Commons vote on redrawing the parliamentary boundaries, despite a warning his Liberal Democrat coalition partners intend to wreck the plan.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced yesterday that he would be ordering his MPs to oppose the new boundaries after a vote by Tory backbenchers derailed his plans to reform the House of Lords.

The proposals to cut the number of parliamentary seats while realigning the boundaries to ensure they have roughly equal numbers of voters is widely seen as the key to the Conservatives chances of outright victory at the next election, giving them up to 20 additional seats.

Visiting an activity centre in mid-Wales, Mr Cameron made clear he intended to push forward with the changes when they come back to the Commons in the autumn, even though he faces almost certain defeat with the Lib Dems lining up with Labour.

"We want the boundary change vote to go ahead," he told reporters.

His decision will effectively force Lib Dem ministers to vote against their own Government - throwing the divisions within the coalition into sharp relief.

The Prime Minister - who yesterday informed Mr Clegg he could persuade sufficient numbers of Tory MPs to back Lords reform - said it was clear that it was not going to succeed.

"It became quite clear to me that the Labour Party and others in Parliament were not going to allow Lords reform through," he said.

He added: "I was not going to have months and months of wrangling."

Mr Cameron said dropping Lords reform would at least give ministers "the space to make the economy the Government's number one priority".

Earlier, however, Lib Dem Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne insisted Lords reform and boundary changes were part of the same "constitutional package" and should both be abandoned.

"They're clearly part of the same constitutional package - one of them is about reforming one end of the Houses of Parliament and the other one is about reforming the other end of the Houses of Parliament," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"They're about the legislature, the nature of the legislature and I remember in the debate in the House of Commons when Nick Clegg was presenting his proposals on House of Lords reform there were lots of Conservative MPs and others who said this was a distraction, it was a waste of time, we shouldn't be looking at constitutional issues when there were much more important matters in hand about the economy, about public services.

"Well look, we agree with that, we accept that argument, there isn't a consensus about going forward with constitutional reform."

Mr Browne confirmed that he was prepared to vote against the boundary changes.

"What has become clear is that the two parties cannot agree on that constitutional reform package and it seems to me to make sense that if there's an area we can't agree on, we put that to one side, we accept that we can't agree on that and we get on with working together on all the areas we can agree on," he said.

PA

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
India and Shimla
14 nights from only £1899pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from £199pp Find out more
4* Soreda hotel break, Malta
Seven nights all-inclusive from £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death