Top Liberal Democrats open rift over coalition with Conservatives

The depth of division among Liberal Democrats over Nick Clegg's coalition deal with the Tories bursts into the open today as former party leader Charles Kennedy reveals that he refused to vote for the deal. In a heartfelt article for today's Observer, Kennedy writes that he could not bring himself to back Clegg in the crucial, behind-closed-doors meeting of Lib Dem MPs last Tuesday night. He feare

[Scatterbrain]

In his article Kennedy suggests that he would have preferred to leave the Tories trying to govern as a minority administration, guaranteeing support only on vital economic decisions and in votes of confidence. "But the understandable anxiety among colleagues of an early second election scuppered tha