Moments after trying to spin his party as mature and suited to government, the Deputy Prime Minister has thrown a massive tantrum live on TV. Clegg has declared that LibDem MPs will oppose Boundary Reforms:

“Coalition works on mutual respect; it is a reciprocal arrangement, a two-way street. So I have told the Prime Minister that when, in due course, parliament votes on boundary changes for the 2015 election I will be instructing my party to oppose them.When part of a contract is broken, it is normal to amend that contract in order then to move on.

Lords reform and boundaries are two, separate parliamentary bills but they are both part of a package of overall political reform. Delivering one but not the other would create an imbalance – not just in the Coalition Agreement, but also in our political system. Lords reform leads to a smaller, more legitimate House of Lords. Boundary changes lead to a smaller House of Commons, by cutting the number of MPs. If you cut the number of MPs without enhancing the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Lords all you have done is weaken parliament as a whole, strengthen the executive and its overmighty government that wins.

So, for these reasons, I have decided, reluctantly to push the pause button on these controversial parliamentary reforms.”

This could get messy…