Education reforms ‘held back’ by Lib Dems

David Cameron with Witham MP Priti Patel in front of the Shah Sayyid Tomb in the Lodi Gardens in Delhi

In a foretaste of the Conservatives’ expected campaign for a majority government in the 2015 general election, the Prime Minister said that coalition has forced him to make compromises that were against the national interest and said he would prefer to head an administration able to act on a “very clear plan”.

But Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that his party had ensured the Government was “anchored in the centre ground”, and insisted that coalition has worked for Britain.

Mr Clegg, who has made a virtue of saying “No” to Conservative schemes, listed employment law, proposals to run state schools for profit and the “snoopers’ charter” as areas where the Lib Dems had forced the Tories to rein in their plans.

Speaking during a round of broadcast interviews in India, Mr Cameron said: “There are occasions – on reforming our schools, on reforming radically our welfare system, on making sure we have an immigration system that works for Britain – there are occasions when I would like to go further, when I am held back by being in coalition.

“That is no surprise to anyone who knows me and the passion I have for sorting those things out.”

But he added: “I think the coalition has been, and is, a very effective Government. We have put in place a long-term economic plan, cutting our deficit.

Mr Cameron also defended his decision to attend a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka despite allegations of human rights abuses by the south Asian country’s government.

Flying to capital Colombo on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Mr Cameron insisted he would use the visit to challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa over the “chilling” claims, telling reporters: “You can’t make the arguments unless you are there.”

Mr Cameron aims to travel to the conflict-scarred north of Sri Lanka to meet journalists and campaigners from the Tamil community who have complained of abuses by security forces during and after the bloody repression of a 26-year civil war in 2009. The United Nations estimates that at least 40,000 were killed.

‘Nothing to hide’: Page 15.