Battle lines drawn as coalition tensions erupt in public

David Cameron faced calls to stamp his authority on his junior coalition partners as divisions over reforms of the NHS, employment and House of Lords reform erupted into the open.

Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox put himself at the head of Tory MPs demanding a greater say over Government policy, reminding the Prime Minister that Conservatives accounted for “five-sixths of the coalition, not half”.

Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes responded with a warning that the party’s peers would seek to re-write key elements of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s NHS reforms in the Lords this week.

Meanwhile, senior Lib Dem Lord Oakeshott warned the party would wreck Conservative plans to re-draw the parliamentary boundaries if Tories blocked Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s proposals for an elected House of Lords.

In an angry on-air spat with Conservative MP for Shipley, Philip Davies, the peer denounced Tory MPs as “headbangers” and accused them of adopting “wrecking tactics”. Mr Davies responded by accusing the peer of making “petulant” threats, and challenged the Lib Dems “to run away from the coalition” and fight an election.

The public display of feuding will fuel speculation over whether the coalition can survive to May 2015 as originally agreed.

On a fractious day, the initial shots were fired by Dr Fox who used his first major television interview since his resignation last year to challenge Mr Cameron to push through changes to the labour laws making it easier for employers to hire and fire staff.

With Lib Dem activists threatening a revolt over the NHS Bill at the party’s spring conference next month, Labour leader Ed Miliband sought to exploit the divisions, urging Lib Dem peers to vote with Labour to bring down the health legislation.

Health Bill ‘a mess’: Page 4.