Cameron and Clegg to renew ‘marriage vows’

Amid heightened tensions within the coalition following last week’s local elections, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister will pledge to work together and do “whatever needs doing to succeed”.

The so-called renewal of their “marriage vows” marks the start of a crucial week, with the announcement tomorrow in the Queen’s Speech of the legislative programme for the new parliamentary session.

Mr Cameron will stress the “number-one priority” is still to keep Britain safe from the financial storm raging in the eurozone and rescue the economy from the “mess” left by the Labour government.

And the Liberal Democrat leader will dismiss claims the coalition has an “ideological obsession” with shrinking the state, arguing there is a “clear moral respons- ibility” to deal with the deficit.

The Prime Minister, writing in The Telegraph, admitted he needed to “prove” himself to voters and pledged to “focus on what matters”, echoing Chancellor George Osborne who signalled on Sunday that the Government would stall flashpoint Lords reforms plans as the Conservatives attempt to halt the increasingly bitter public attacks from their own ranks.

But writing in the Guardian yesterday, Mr Clegg signalled he was determined to press ahead with the changes.