BRIGHTON - Nick Clegg has insisted the Liberal Democrats have not "sold out" by forming a coalition with the Conservatives in order to get into government.
Rallying the party faithful at the start of the Lib Dem conference in Brighton on Saturday evening, the deputy prime minister told his activists and MPs that they had to prove coalition governments could work, or should disband.
"When our critics tell us we have sold out, that we have achieved nothing, tell them this: Britain will be a greener, fairer, better place because of what we have done and what we will do," he said.
"We chose to govern with our political opponents because our country needed a stable government at a critical time. Not because it was easy but because it was right. That is still true.
"We have avoided an economic catastrophe. We have steadied the ship. Now we must set it sailing. And as we do so Liberal Democrats will not stop fighting to make this government and this country fairer.
The Lib Dem leader's message was as much for those listening in the hall as it was for those at home, as the party leadership attempts to reassure its base that it's decision to enter government was not in vain.
While Clegg said the public would not vote for them if all they saw was internal coalition "squabbling", he also launched a full frontal attack on the Tory backbenches who he accused or trying to force a "turbo-charged right wing agenda" on the country.
"We must show them it is a form of government that works well for them," he said. "If we don’t we will have lost not only the argument for having Liberal Democrats in power but for having a third party at all."
"We are proving that coalition works. But we need discipline. Yes, we must show people that we are different from our coalition partners. But if all people see is squabbling then they will think coalition is a messy, incoherent thing."
Clegg added: "My message to those Conservative backbench MPs who seem to think they have the right to force a turbo-charged right wing agenda on our country is this: You didn’t win the last election.
"You do not have a majority. The British people have not given you the right to act like you do. We formed this coalition in good faith and for the good of the country at a time of crisis.
"That required compromise on both sides. Liberal Democrats have kept our side of the bargain. You must too."
Lib Dem politicians are expected to use their conference to differentiate themselves from their Tory partners in government in order to show both their own activists and voters at large that they have a distinct voice.