'Bad losers' taunt as AV row grows

Chris Huhne was told to 'stop whingeing' by the head of the powerful 1922 Committee
12 April 2012

Nick Clegg and Energy Secretary Chris Huhne have been branded "bad losers" and urged to "stop whingeing" as coalition tensions over the AV referendum intensified.

Senior Tories lashed out after the Deputy Prime Minister complained about the "right-wing clique" behind the No campaign, and Mr Huhne threatened legal action over "untruths".

The bitter clashes escalated with just over a week to go before the country votes on whether to scrap the first-past-the-post electoral system.

Mr Huhne used an interview over the weekend to suggest it would be difficult for the two parties to carry on working together unless top Conservatives - including Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague - backed down. He dismissed as "demonstrably untrue" an allegation from the No campaign that introducing AV would require expensive vote-counting machines.

"It is frankly worrying if you have colleagues, who you have respected and who you have worked well with, who are making claims which have no foundation in truth whatsoever. If they don't come clean on this I am sure the law courts will," Mr Huhne said.

Aides could not clarify whether the Cabinet minister was suggesting a judicial review of the referendum result, or some other legal action. The Electoral Commission has confirmed that it does not have powers to consider the matter.

Mr Clegg, meanwhile, used another interview to launch his most direct attack yet on David Cameron, accusing him of aligning himself with the far-right BNP and the Communist Party "in defence of the indefensible".

And senior Conservatives have pitched in using some of the most forthright language so far.

Mark Pritchard, secretary of the powerful 1922 Committee, said: "Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne should stop their whingeing. With each of them presiding over major government departments they've never had it so good.

"Their personal and political sacrifices are infinitesimal compared to those made by the hundreds of public sector workers losing their jobs each week and many Conservative colleagues who gave up ministerial office for the sake of the coalition."

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