Scriven stands by claim over Cameron-Clegg conversation

Lord Scriven, a close colleague of Mr Clegg’s, took to Twitter to reveal the conversation after being incensed by suggestions from the Conservatives that they can win on Thursday by targeting 23 marginal seats largely held by the Liberal Democrats in the final days of campaigning.

He wrote: “So Cameron has taken to lying on Tory Maj. @nick_clegg told me that Cameron privately admitted to him that the Tories won’t win a majority.”

The intervention provoked fury from the Conservatives whoinsisted the claim was “100 per cent untrue” and “complete nonsense” and showed that the Lib Dem campaign was in a state of panic.

But Lord Scriven told The Yorkshire Post he was standing by his comments and said they related to a conversation which took place shortly before Parliament was dissolved for the election.

Campaigning in Twickenham, Mr Clegg refused to be drawn directly on what Mr Cameron had told him but said Tory claims they could win an overall majority were a “big, fat fib”.

He told Sky News: “It is not for me to comment on private conversations or tweets from Paul Scriven. But - how can I put it - I’ve never met a senior Conservative ever who will tell you privately that they think they’re going to win this election.

“I wish I could reveal some of these private conversations, because of the difference between what the Conservatives say privately and what they are claiming publicly is quite a gulf.

“They’re now basically communicating a big, fat fib that they are going to win a majority. They are not. They need 323 seats, they are not going to get 323 seats. Everybody knows that.”

The Prime Minister has repeatedly spoken during the campaign of only needing to win 23 seats for victory but that assumes the Conservatives holding onto all their existing seats.

The list of 23 target seats published by the Conservatives includes 21 held by the Lib Dems, one independent and the Halifax seat currently held by Labour. Across the seats, just 100,000 voters could determine the results.