Fresh cracks in the Coalition appeared today when Nick Clegg claimed personal credit for Government plans to boost growth and house building.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s language was seen as the start of a battle with the Tories over credit for successful initiatives.
In a letter to Lib-Dem supporters, Mr Clegg wrote: “As you may have seen on the news, I’ve announced an ambitious package to get growth and house building going.
“I am also ensuring that an additional £300 million is spent on building 15,000 new affordable homes and bringing 5,000 empty homes back into use.”
But Tory MPs reacted angrily to Mr Clegg’s letter.
Peter Bone said: “The idea that Nick Clegg is telling the Prime Minister what to do, and claiming that they are doing things because he said so, is about as believable as the moon is made out of cheese.”
Mr Clegg’s aides said the language in the letter was standard for such correspondence.
The housing plan has been led by both David Cameron and Mr Clegg, while the Lib-Dems’ £1.4 billion regional growth fund scheme was criticised by the Commons public accounts committee after it found that just £60 million has so far reached businesses.
