It is people like Mandelson and Campbell with their devious plotting who are putting ambition above the needs of the country. Anything to retain in power. And you can add Ashdown to that list. In fact, he admitted it this morning on the Today programme by saying his loyalty was to his party and to his friends. No mention of his country. Now what a surprise!

The 4th party - are you having a laugh? At least the BBC has a semblance of balance - unlike the print media - every single conservative newspaper will demonize PA from now till any vote - they will not be reasonable, they will not be fair.

David Cameron is not putting becoming PM above his country, if that was the case he would have insisted on a conservative minority government which would have got him into downing street days ago. He knows that the best thing for the country is a coalition government of Lib-Con. He has put country before party by offering the lib dems a referendum on AV, something they will campaign against. You are being very negative about David Cameron. It is labour and the Lib dems who are acting in a disgusting way, not Cameron who went into these talks with clear respect for the lib dems.

Arrant nonsense. From what we've heard so far, he's given ground on pupil premiums (an area of agreement between thetwo parties), on raising income tax allowances for the lower paid (something that any genuine Conservative would agree with), and on a referendum on the AV system. Of these concessions, only one is antithetical to the party (although personally I think that FPTP is only useful in a two party system and we've moved beyond that). So to suggest that this one issue amounts to a complete betrayal is complete claptrap: a) Negotiations mean giving up some things you want and some thngs that you don't. In this case, the party will be free to campaign against the change. b) AV is not proportional. It is a system that reinforces swings, so generally works against the 'losing' party. It would probably have benefited the Conservatives in this election. (It is also a rubbish system, but that's for another time) c) Electoral reform will not wipe out the Conservative Party. If 'left' and 'right' are to have any context, then 50% of the population lie to either side. If anything, a new system is likely to ensure that the Conservatives are enshrined as the permanent largest party as we have little competition on our 'side' of the divide (albeit with the need for support most of the time - but then 'strong' Labour govt for the last 13 years hasn't been fantastic, has it?!). d) WWDD. What would Disraeli do? Or Peel? Adapt. If we're going to have this referendum, lets have it on our terms. We can set the time of our choosing, we've set the system that wil be voted upon and we can set the terms of the vote (minimum turnout needed/ % of voters in support etc.). I subscribe to your magazine and find it to be an excellent read for a small 'l' liberal Conservative - always challenging my preconceptions of what our team is fighting for. But this is codswallop of the highest order.