Fighting talk from the Lib Dems has come too late

ONE by one, leading Liberal Democrats have taken to the platform at their annual party conference to attack their coalition partners.

In a bid to put some clear water - though it is probably best not to say some clear, blue water - between themselves and the Conservatives, this was Bash A Tory week in Birmingham.

The party's deputy leader Simon Hughes got his joust in early, referring to the Tories as "ruthless" in an interview with the Guardian on the eve of the conference.

But it was party president Tim Farron who ramped up the rhetoric in a speech on Sunday which suggested that a Conservative-majority government would be "an absolute nightmare".

Mr Farron, who - like Mr Hughes - is not a minister, also determined that "divorce is inevitable" after three or four years.

This time-frame caused a bit of consternation as the coalition partners have always stated they would serve a full five-year term in office together until 2015.

But, nothing too much should be read into it as, three years from now, the parties will be just about going their separate ways at their last major conference before the next general election.

Perhaps more pertinently, there was some dissent from the frontbench, too.

Chris Huhne, who was an avid supporter of the Alternative Vote, is clearly still feeling a little sore over the perception that Prime Minister David Cameron campaigned vigorously for a 'No' vote having previously stated he would stay out of the debate.

Energy minister Mr Huhne compared the Tory hard right with the "madcap" Tea Party movement in the United States, and he criticised Conservatives for "slavering over tax cuts for the rich".

And then Business secretary Vince Cable took a swipe at Mr Cameron's policy advisor Steve Hilton and others on the Tory right who have suggested that Britain should abolish maternity leave.

"What I will not do though is provide cover for ideological descendants of those who sent children up chimneys," Mr Cable said.

Party leader Nick Clegg was noticeably more careful with his words in his 42-minute keynote speech - stating only that his party was "in nobody's pocket" - but then, as Mr Cameron's deputy, he probably has to be.

Instead, Mr Clegg has used the past few days to try and emphasise the Lib Dems' achievements in government.

There were several mentions of their strong opposition to the removal of the 50p tax rate, and a repeated highlighting of the doubling of the pupil premium.

The Lib Dems also launched an almost continual PR effort in seeking to demonstrate which concessions they had won in the Health and Social Care Bill.

But, on the NHS bill in particular, the attempt at positive spin has been disputed internally, most notably by Lib Dem peer Baroness Williams.

All this after activists were unable to force a vote on the controversial changes, failing to get the two thirds majority needed for it to be considered.

Meanwhile, there has been a general discomfort about the changing nature of the party and its conference with the necessity of extra security on the venue entrances coming in for questioning.

And former MP Evan Harris cautioned over the 'Toryisation' of the event whereby it becomes just a series of stage-managed speeches by the frontbench rather than a genuine forum for debate.

Of course, some delegates think that it has already happened and indeed that the very presence of the Lib Dems in coalition with the Conservatives is a byword for betrayal.

The broken promises over tuition fees and the VAT bombshell - as well as the comprehensive failure to win the argument over electoral reform - have left scars which cannot be healed by a few concessions here and there.

The really bad news for Mr Clegg and his party is that a large proportion of voters remain of this same opinion.

A poll released this week by Comres in the Sunday Mirror showed that 47% of people who voted Lib Dem in the 2010 general election would not vote for the party again.

This is largely in line with the recent polling averages on the UK Polling Report website which show their support hovering at around 11% as compared to 23% at the election.

Quite simply, it seems that, for many people, this fighting talk has come too little and too late.

Such a hopeless circumstance would usually put Mr Clegg in a vulnerable position as party leader but a lack of a credible challenger still leaves him in situ.

Mr Farron came closest to casting aspersions on Mr Clegg's authority this week - saying "there is no ruling it [a bid for the leadership] out in the future" - but he quickly backtracked once he had realised his mistake.

It all means the Lib Dems will struggle on for now with the electoral albatross that is Mr Clegg.

This has been a week in which the Lib Dems have talked tough but the general public has already seen through their self-aggrandizing bluster.

And now they are just waiting to deliver the knockout blow at the next major visit to the polls - whether that is in 2015 or sooner.