Lib Dem leader accuses George Osborne of peddling 'ludicrous false claims' over AV funding as cabinet tensions rise
Cabinet tensions over the AV referendum will be exposed when Nick Clegg accuses George Osborne of peddling "ludicrous false claims" about the funding of the yes campaign.
In a sign of how the referendum and local elections on 5 May are testing collective cabinet responsibility to breaking point, Clegg will accuse the chancellor of scaring people to maintain the "racket" of safe parliamentary seats.
The deputy prime ministerwill take the gloves off after Osborne claimed the funding of the yes campaign "really stinks".
In a speech in Sheffield, Clegg will say: "The no campaign is getting increasingly desperate. That's why they are using ludicrous false claims to try and scare people into keeping things the way they are.
"The no campaign ... have an interest in keeping things just the way they are. The old politics likes its nice little racket, its nice little earner. They don't want you to have any more say than is absolutely necessary to keep them nice and cosy in their safe seats. They want people locked out and politicians kept in. Well democracy is not theirs to control, it's yours."
The deputy prime minister will not name Osborne. But the chancellor will be firmly in his sights after claiming this week that the Electoral Reform Society (ERS), which has given £1.1m to the pro-AV campaign, faces a conflict of interest. The chancellor argued that the society's commercial wing, Electoral Reform Services, is printing ballot papers for the referendum and stands to benefit from a yes vote because it makes electronic voting machines that could be used if AV is passed. Osborne told the Daily Mail: "That stinks frankly and is exactly the sort of dodgy, behind-the-scenes shenanigans that people don't like about politics."
Lawyers acting for Electoral Reform Services said they were considering taking legal action at the "wholly untrue" and "misleading" claims. An AV election would not necessarily need electronic counting machines and the ERS's commercial wing is one of six companies printing ballot papers for the referendum.
Voters will be asked on 5 May whether they support the current first-past-the-post system or whether they believe it should be replaced by the alternative vote system, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Tensions have risen in the past week as the Lib Dems and Tories clash in the runup to the referendum and local elections. Differences within the coalition were highlighted when Vince Cable, the business secretary, warned that David Cameron was running the risk of "inflaming the extremism" after a speech on immigration.
Clegg speaks as the AV campaign enters a crucial phase, with people who will be voting by post receiving their ballot papers from today. Many of the recipients are expected to cast their votes as soon as they get them.
Although opinion polls are giving give quite different results, depending on how the question is put, there is some evidence that the no camp has recently been moving ahead. "When people were asked whether or not they want change, they opted for change," a No to AV spokesman claimed. "But when people have AV explained to them, they start to go off it. That is happening now as we get nearer to polling day."
But the yes camp do not believe that they are falling behind. "We are not complacent, but we are not disappointed with the polls," said a spokesman for Yes to Fairer Votes.