Humiliated: Nick Clegg makes the announcement that his plans to reform the House of Lords have been killed off - and that he will now block constituency boundary change proposals . Nick Clegg plunged the Coalition into brutal bloodletting last night after delivering a crushing blow to Tory hopes of a majority at the next election. The Deputy Prime Minister announced he was abandoning his pet plans for House of Lords reform after opposition from Conservative backbenchers. And in a tit-for-tat move branded a ‘treachery’ by senior Tories, Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems would now vote against Tory plans to redraw constituency boundaries which are expected to help the Conservatives gain 20 seats at the next election. Senior Lib Dems admitted that an angry Mr Clegg wanted to deliver a ‘punch’ to his Coalition partners. The Lib Dem leader accused the Tories of breaking the Coalition ‘contract’ after Tory MPs rebelled over the Lords. But Tories pointed out that it was the AV referendum on electoral reform – not a shake-up of the Lords – which was linked to the boundary changes in the Coalition Agreement. On Lords reform it bound them only to set up a committee to suggest changes, which they did. Mr Clegg was branded a ‘child’ and a ‘hypocrite’ by senior Tories who vowed to wreak their revenge on the Lib Dems. One senior minister privately said the Prime Minister should kick Lib Dem ministers out of the Coalition and run a minority Government if they fail to back the boundary changes. A Cabinet minister said: ‘Everyone knows we gave the Lib Dems the AV referendum for boundaries. At the earliest opportunity we must revenge Clegg’s betrayal.’ And another senior Tory said Mr Clegg ‘has effectively called time on the Coalition’ and urged Mr Cameron to ‘walk away’. He said: ‘You simply cannot have a situation where Government ministers don’t vote for Government policy. That’s very different from backbenchers, who can vote how they like.’ Battle: David Cameron looks set to drop House of Lords reforms next week but the Lib Dems look like to retaliate . The senior figure said Mr Cameron should move to a ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement where the Lib Dems would back the Government on Budget measures and votes of confidence but could vote as they wished on other matters. Many Tories fear that without boundary changes they have little prospect of winning a majority in 2015 because the current constituencies are stacked in Labour’s favour. The developments also call into question Mr Cameron’s authority over his own party. Yesterday’s move means that Lib Dem ministers will be in the extraordinary position of voting against their own Government’s policy when the boundary changes come before the Commons next year. If Mr Cameron lets that stand, it could lead to a catastrophic breakdown of Government discipline, fuelling other rebellions. And in another bizarre twist, Mr Clegg made clear that he would continue to stuff the House of Lords with new members even though his main complaint is that there are too many peers. Mr Clegg even came under fire from his own side. Peer Lord Carlile said Mr Clegg’s Lords reforms were ‘ill-thought-out’ and the Lib Dems had to accept the plans did not have enough support in the Commons. At a Westminster briefing, Mr Clegg confirmed he was dropping his House of Lords Reform Bill, after being informed by Mr Cameron that an ‘insufficient number’ of Conservative MPs was prepared to back it. David Cameron, pictured with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at Downing Street today, is said to have told Mr Clegg that he was flogging a dead horse in trying to get the reform through . Mr Clegg said he was acting ‘reluctantly’ after the Prime Minister made clear he was unable to reverse the revolt by 91 Tory backbenchers last month which forced the Government to abandon the crucial timetable motion limiting Commons debate on the Lords Reform Bill. ‘The Conservative Party is not honouring the commitment to Lords reform and, as a result, part of our contract has now been broken,’ he said. ‘Clearly I cannot permit a situation where Conservative rebels can pick and choose the parts of the contract they like, while Liberal Democrat MPs are bound to the entire agreement. ‘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.’ The Deputy Prime Minister dressed up his announcement as principle. But a senior Lib Dem figure made clear that his real motivation was to get his own back for a series of Coalition setbacks, saying: ‘Sometimes you have to deliver a punch. We have taken enough.’ Downing Street said Mr Cameron had known for several weeks what was coming and was calm about the developments when Mr Clegg confirmed he was pulling the plug in a phone call on Monday morning. But No 10 also made clear that the Tories will push the boundary changes to a vote since that will force the Lib Dems to publicly vote against a reduction in the number of MPs which was in their election manifesto. The Government’s now-defunct proposals would have reduced the number of MPs from 650 to 600. As well as cutting the number of constituencies, those remaining would have more equal populations than at present. In Parliament now there are big differences in the number of voters between one constituency and another. This is the result of some city populations declining and rural ones growing. This social shift has not been reflected in the size of constituencies and many are badly imbalanced. For example, Newcastle upon Tyne Central has a population of 61,000 while North West Cambridgeshire has 90,000. Because Labour’s heartlands are in urban areas and the Tories’ safest seats are in the countryside, differences in voter numbers from constituency to constituency have the effect, over time, of favouring Labour. The current position is that it takes more Tory votes to win a General Election than Labour ones. It is for this reason that the Conservatives included a commitment in their 2010 manifesto to reduce the number of MPs and equalise voter numbers. The Lib Dems also wanted to cut the number of MPs. Indeed, proposals from the independent Boundary Commission would have redrawn the majority of existing constituencies. In some cases, this would have had a major impact and altered dramatically the composition of constituencies. For example, several seats would have seen less than 50 per cent of their voters transferred to the proposed new constituency. The constituencies of MPs such as Labour’s Tessa Jowell and David Blunkett as well as the Tories’ Nadine Dorries would have been affected in this way. It is not surprising, therefore, that many MPs whose constituencies were set to be radically redrawn, including a number of Conservatives, will be relieved that Nick Clegg has stopped the reform. Less pleased, though, will be David Cameron and Tory strategists who were expecting the review to improve their chances of winning the next election outright. Expert calculations say 600 constituencies with broadly more equal voter numbers would reduce the number of Labour seats by around 28, the Lib Dems’ total by 11 and the Conservatives by only about seven. Thus, the Tories would be significantly better off in relation to Labour – and more likely to win an election. Clegg’s cynical retaliation will have two effects. First, it makes it likely that the Lib Dems will lose slightly fewer seats at the next election than currently appears inevitable. Second, it makes it less easy for the Conservatives to win an outright victory. The way things now stand, it is significantly more likely that Labour’s Ed Miliband, possibly with Clegg’s support, will win the next election – be it in 2014 or 2015. Tony Travers is a government expert at the London School of Economics . What are the boundary changes? The . Coalition has pledged to cut the number of seats for MPs in the House . of Commons from 650 to 600, arguing this will  save around £12million a . year, and will be fairer. Under . the change, the vast majority of Parliamentary seats would contain the . same number of eligible voters within a margin of 5 per cent. It is . controversial because it currently takes far more votes to elect a Tory . MP in a rural seat than an urban Labour member. The . Lib Dems agreed to support the reforms in return for a referendum on . the introduction of the Alternative Vote system. This was held in 2011 . and was roundly rejected by voters. How will the parties be affected? Labour . is likely to sustain the biggest losses, but proportionately the Lib . Dems would be hit hardest. Some experts believe the reforms will hand . the Tories an extra   20 seats at the next general election and put . several senior Lib Dems at risk. What has this to do with Lords reform? Lib . Dems regard Lords reform and Boundary Commission changes as a package, . although they are not explicitly linked in the Coalition deal. The party . has threatened to vote down the boundary changes if Lords reforms are . dumped. David Laws, a Lib Dem MP, has warned of a ‘chain reaction’ which . would threaten the rest of the Coalition’s programme. What happens next? David . Cameron is pressing ahead with the changes. The blueprint will have to . be approved in a Commons vote as early as the end of 2013 to be in place . for the next General Election in 2015. What will Nick Clegg do? He may use the threat of voting down the package to try to extract policy commitments to shore up his grassroots support. What do the Tories think?Furious . backbenchers say they fulfilled their side of the bargain by agreeing . to the AV poll. They also mutter that any Lib Dem backsliding could . finish the Coalition. VIDEO: Nick Clegg confirms Lord's reform is axed...
In return the Lib Dem leader says his party will block Tory constituency boundary change plans .
'Tories have not honoured .
their commitment to Lords reform or Coalition contract,' he said .
'When parliament votes on boundary changes I will be instructing my party to oppose them,' he added .
Some Tories say Mr Clegg's retaliation could sink the Coalition .
Humiliated: Nick Clegg makes the announcement that his plans to reform the House of Lords have been killed off - and that he will now block constituency boundary change proposals . Nick Clegg plunged the Coalition into brutal bloodletting last night after delivering a crushing blow to Tory hopes of a majority at the next election. The Deputy Prime Minister announced he was abandoning his pet plans for House of Lords reform after opposition from Conservative backbenchers. And in a tit-for-tat move branded a ‘treachery’ by senior Tories, Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems would now vote against Tory plans to redraw constituency boundaries which are expected to help the Conservatives gain 20 seats at the next election. Senior Lib Dems admitted that an angry Mr Clegg wanted to deliver a ‘punch’ to his Coalition partners. The Lib Dem leader accused the Tories of breaking the Coalition ‘contract’ after Tory MPs rebelled over the Lords. But Tories pointed out that it was the AV referendum on electoral reform – not a shake-up of the Lords – which was linked to the boundary changes in the Coalition Agreement. On Lords reform it bound them only to set up a committee to suggest changes, which they did. Mr Clegg was branded a ‘child’ and a ‘hypocrite’ by senior Tories who vowed to wreak their revenge on the Lib Dems. One senior minister privately said the Prime Minister should kick Lib Dem ministers out of the Coalition and run a minority Government if they fail to back the boundary changes. A Cabinet minister said: ‘Everyone knows we gave the Lib Dems the AV referendum for boundaries. At the earliest opportunity we must revenge Clegg’s betrayal.’ And another senior Tory said Mr Clegg ‘has effectively called time on the Coalition’ and urged Mr Cameron to ‘walk away’. He said: ‘You simply cannot have a situation where Government ministers don’t vote for Government policy. That’s very different from backbenchers, who can vote how they like.’ Battle: David Cameron looks set to drop House of Lords reforms next week but the Lib Dems look like to retaliate . The senior figure said Mr Cameron should move to a ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement where the Lib Dems would back the Government on Budget measures and votes of confidence but could vote as they wished on other matters. Many Tories fear that without boundary changes they have little prospect of winning a majority in 2015 because the current constituencies are stacked in Labour’s favour. The developments also call into question Mr Cameron’s authority over his own party. Yesterday’s move means that Lib Dem ministers will be in the extraordinary position of voting against their own Government’s policy when the boundary changes come before the Commons next year. If Mr Cameron lets that stand, it could lead to a catastrophic breakdown of Government discipline, fuelling other rebellions. And in another bizarre twist, Mr Clegg made clear that he would continue to stuff the House of Lords with new members even though his main complaint is that there are too many peers. Mr Clegg even came under fire from his own side. Peer Lord Carlile said Mr Clegg’s Lords reforms were ‘ill-thought-out’ and the Lib Dems had to accept the plans did not have enough support in the Commons. At a Westminster briefing, Mr Clegg confirmed he was dropping his House of Lords Reform Bill, after being informed by Mr Cameron that an ‘insufficient number’ of Conservative MPs was prepared to back it. David Cameron, pictured with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at Downing Street today, is said to have told Mr Clegg that he was flogging a dead horse in trying to get the reform through . Mr Clegg said he was acting ‘reluctantly’ after the Prime Minister made clear he was unable to reverse the revolt by 91 Tory backbenchers last month which forced the Government to abandon the crucial timetable motion limiting Commons debate on the Lords Reform Bill. ‘The Conservative Party is not honouring the commitment to Lords reform and, as a result, part of our contract has now been broken,’ he said. ‘Clearly I cannot permit a situation where Conservative rebels can pick and choose the parts of the contract they like, while Liberal Democrat MPs are bound to the entire agreement. ‘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.’ The Deputy Prime Minister dressed up his announcement as principle. But a senior Lib Dem figure made clear that his real motivation was to get his own back for a series of Coalition setbacks, saying: ‘Sometimes you have to deliver a punch. We have taken enough.’ Downing Street said Mr Cameron had known for several weeks what was coming and was calm about the developments when Mr Clegg confirmed he was pulling the plug in a phone call on Monday morning. But No 10 also made clear that the Tories will push the boundary changes to a vote since that will force the Lib Dems to publicly vote against a reduction in the number of MPs which was in their election manifesto. The Government’s now-defunct proposals would have reduced the number of MPs from 650 to 600. As well as cutting the number of constituencies, those remaining would have more equal populations than at present. In Parliament now there are big differences in the number of voters between one constituency and another. This is the result of some city populations declining and rural ones growing. This social shift has not been reflected in the size of constituencies and many are badly imbalanced. For example, Newcastle upon Tyne Central has a population of 61,000 while North West Cambridgeshire has 90,000. Because Labour’s heartlands are in urban areas and the Tories’ safest seats are in the countryside, differences in voter numbers from constituency to constituency have the effect, over time, of favouring Labour. The current position is that it takes more Tory votes to win a General Election than Labour ones. It is for this reason that the Conservatives included a commitment in their 2010 manifesto to reduce the number of MPs and equalise voter numbers. The Lib Dems also wanted to cut the number of MPs. Indeed, proposals from the independent Boundary Commission would have redrawn the majority of existing constituencies. In some cases, this would have had a major impact and altered dramatically the composition of constituencies. For example, several seats would have seen less than 50 per cent of their voters transferred to the proposed new constituency. The constituencies of MPs such as Labour’s Tessa Jowell and David Blunkett as well as the Tories’ Nadine Dorries would have been affected in this way. It is not surprising, therefore, that many MPs whose constituencies were set to be radically redrawn, including a number of Conservatives, will be relieved that Nick Clegg has stopped the reform. Less pleased, though, will be David Cameron and Tory strategists who were expecting the review to improve their chances of winning the next election outright. Expert calculations say 600 constituencies with broadly more equal voter numbers would reduce the number of Labour seats by around 28, the Lib Dems’ total by 11 and the Conservatives by only about seven. Thus, the Tories would be significantly better off in relation to Labour – and more likely to win an election. Clegg’s cynical retaliation will have two effects. First, it makes it likely that the Lib Dems will lose slightly fewer seats at the next election than currently appears inevitable. Second, it makes it less easy for the Conservatives to win an outright victory. The way things now stand, it is significantly more likely that Labour’s Ed Miliband, possibly with Clegg’s support, will win the next election – be it in 2014 or 2015. Tony Travers is a government expert at the London School of Economics . What are the boundary changes? The . Coalition has pledged to cut the number of seats for MPs in the House . of Commons from 650 to 600, arguing this will  save around £12million a . year, and will be fairer. Under . the change, the vast majority of Parliamentary seats would contain the . same number of eligible voters within a margin of 5 per cent. It is . controversial because it currently takes far more votes to elect a Tory . MP in a rural seat than an urban Labour member. The . Lib Dems agreed to support the reforms in return for a referendum on . the introduction of the Alternative Vote system. This was held in 2011 . and was roundly rejected by voters. How will the parties be affected? Labour . is likely to sustain the biggest losses, but proportionately the Lib . Dems would be hit hardest. Some experts believe the reforms will hand . the Tories an extra   20 seats at the next general election and put . several senior Lib Dems at risk. What has this to do with Lords reform? Lib . Dems regard Lords reform and Boundary Commission changes as a package, . although they are not explicitly linked in the Coalition deal. The party . has threatened to vote down the boundary changes if Lords reforms are . dumped. David Laws, a Lib Dem MP, has warned of a ‘chain reaction’ which . would threaten the rest of the Coalition’s programme. What happens next? David . Cameron is pressing ahead with the changes. The blueprint will have to . be approved in a Commons vote as early as the end of 2013 to be in place . for the next General Election in 2015. What will Nick Clegg do? He may use the threat of voting down the package to try to extract policy commitments to shore up his grassroots support. What do the Tories think?Furious . backbenchers say they fulfilled their side of the bargain by agreeing . to the AV poll. They also mutter that any Lib Dem backsliding could . finish the Coalition. VIDEO: Nick Clegg confirms Lord's reform is axed...
constituency boundary change proposals . Nick a ‘punch’ to his Coalition partners. The Lib Dem Coalition ‘contract’ after Tory MPs rebelled over Carlile said Mr Clegg’s Lords reforms were honouring the commitment to Lords reform and, as course, Parliament votes on boundary changes for the 2015 election I will be instructing my party to oppose them.’ The Deputy Prime Minister election. Clegg’s cynical retaliation will have backsliding could . finish the Coalition. VIDEO: