The Liberal Democrats are helping make the UK "a fairer country", party members claimed last week at their annual conference in Birmingham.Lib Dem MPs, including deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, announced ambitious plans for the future including proposals for social care reform, education credit and the introduction of same-sex marriage.

The party also maintained that they would continue to safeguard the NHS and the Human Rights Act.But the question of how much as been achieved by the Liberal Democrats in the first year of coalition government remains a pertinent one.

According to research by the University College of London, 75 per cent of the Liberal Democrat manifesto made its way into coalition agreement, compared to 60 per cent from the Conservatives.Viewed from inside, the research is based upon 90 interviews with senior people in Whitehall and Westminster. 

According to director professor Robert Hazell, “In the first year the coalition has been remarkably stable and united.

Everyone we interviewed in Whitehall says how much more harmonious the coalition is compared with the rivalries and infighting of the Blair and Brown years."

However, the report also revealed that despite hundreds of small policy wins, their influence in government is invisible to the public. Hazell added, “Instead of spreading themselves thinly across the whole of government, they need to prioritise their effort on areas where they can clearly have an impact.

"Since joining the coalition, the Lib Dems have been subjected to harsh scrutiny with Labour accusing Nick Clegg of “sacrificing liberal tradition for personal ambition."Despite Clegg’s pledge to commit £2.5 billion to children from the poorest backgrounds, one example that is frequently referred to is the Lib Dems’ broken promise to students following the rise of tuition fees.

 Ian Murray, from Edinburgh Labour, dismissed the claims of Lib Dem MPs. He said the party had “sold out of all their principles for the ministerial office and they are hiding behind empty rhetoric to try and justify it.”He added, “I can’t think of any policy where they say they are making Britain fairer. How can it be fair to charge students, on average, £8,466 per year for university education?  

 “No matter what mechanisms are put in place to alleviate some of the consequences, it will be a significant barrier to higher education for those from the most vulnerable communities.  It becomes a rich persons charter and that is not what university or the UK should be about.”