Nick Clegg yesterday insisted he would secure the "overwhelming" support of rank-and-file party members for his bid to reposition the Liberal Democrats as a tax-cutting party.

ANDREW WOODCOCK

Nick Clegg yesterday insisted he would secure the "overwhelming" support of rank-and-file party members for his bid to reposition the Liberal Democrats as a tax-cutting party.

Mr Clegg's announcement on Thursday of a £20bn package of tax reductions for low and middle-income households, funded by cuts in government spending, has put him on collision course with some LibDem activists.

Analysts are predicting fierce rows at the annual LibDem conference in Bournemouth in September, as party activists on the left seek to protect spending commitments.

The £20bn tax cut is a sharp change in direction from previous LibDem leaders who promised a 50p tax band for the rich or a 1p rise in income tax to pay for education. It makes the LibDems the only party to be promising a reduction in the overall tax burden at a time when even Conservative leader David Cameron refuses to rule out tax rises.

But Mr Clegg yesterday told Sky News's Sunday Live: "I hope I will receive, and I am fully confident I will receive, the overwhelming backing of people within my party.

"I am sure there will be people who want to debate various aspects of it."

LibDem members have traditionally been further to the left than the party's voters, particularly in the crucial marginal seats in the south of England where their main opponents are the Conservatives.