Lib Dem-Tory row ahead of Thursday's election

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are at odds over claims by one of Nick Clegg's allies that David Cameron has admitted he would not win the election. Lord Scriven suggested the prime minister had made the admission in a private conversation with the Lib Dem leader and deputy PM six weeks ago. The Tories dismissed the claim, with David Cameron telling party activists that victory was "within our grasp". But Labour leader Ed Miliband said the Tories had "conceded" victory. The spat comes as the party leaders begin a whirlwind 72 hours of campaigning ahead of Thursday's election, with the Conservatives focusing on their economic record, Labour concentrating on the future of the NHS and Lib Dems trying to shore up support in key marginal seats in south-west London and south-west England. In other election news: UKIP launches its Scottish programme with a call for a UK-wide constitutional convention but its printed manifesto is delayed in the post There are scuffles in Glasgow between Labour and SNP supporters during a campaign event involving Jim Murphy and Eddie Izzard Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood says her party would be prepared to vote against a Labour budget, saying Ed Miliband cannot take its support "for granted" Ed Miliband defends his decision to carve his election pledges into a tablet of stone Green Party leader Natalie Bennett says she has "watched in horror" as migrants are blamed "for failures" in government policy The Lib Dems say they will spend part of the £227m fine imposed on Deutsche Bank on "high-value" diagnostic equipment, such as CT and MRI scanners, and on air ambulance charities. Russell Brand urges his followers on social media to vote Labour after his interview with Ed Miliband Opinion polls currently suggest no party will win an outright victory and another hung Parliament is likely, despite both the Conservatives and Labour claiming they could still seize victory on their own. David Cameron and Nick Clegg, who many believe will seek to renew the coalition in the event of an inconclusive result, have clashed amid suggestions that the prime minister was "lying" when he said the Tories could still win. In a message on Twitter, the Lib Dem campaign spokesman Lord Scriven said he had been told by his party leader that Mr Cameron admitted to him in a private conversation that the Tories wouldn't win a majority. Speaking on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show, Lord Scriven - who is a former leader of Sheffield City Council - said he would not "take back anything" he had said and defended his decision to speak out at this late stage in the campaign. "When I read... David Cameron is not telling the truth to try to scare people to vote then I think his private fears do need to be made clear," he said. 'Fat fib' Mr Clegg declined to comment on the detail of Lord Scriven's claim, but said it was a "big, fat fib" to suggest the Tories could win the 323 seats effectively needed to command a majority in the House of Commons. "They are not going to get 323 seats and they know it," he said on a visit to south-west London. In response, a Conservative spokesman said the claim was "100% not true". But a senior Liberal Democrat source said: "I can categorically confirm that the prime minister did say the words as described by Lord Scriven in a conversation with the deputy prime minister." Mr Cameron said Mr Clegg was "increasingly desperate" and voters faced an "inescapable choice" between a "strong" Conservative government and a "weak" Labour government which would be reliant on the support of SNP "vote-by-vote, measure-by-measure". "If we win 23 more seats, this problem will not exist because we will have a Conservative government that will look after working people in every part of the country," he told Conservative supporters in the target seat of Bath. "That is what is within our grasp." On a visit in Brighton, Mr Miliband said the row "says it all" about Mr Cameron's campaign. "Other leaders, I gather, are conceding the outcome of this election.... We are fighting every step of the way." Mr Miliband, who has again insisted he would not "negotiate" with the SNP, also defended his decision to inscribe his party's six election pledges into a giant tablet of stone, which is set to be placed in the Downing Street garden if he gains power. Meanwhile, scuffles have broken out on the streets of Glasgow when Jim Murphy, Labour's leader in Scotland, tried to address activists in the city centre. Protestors playing loud music and shouting "Red Tories out", drowned out the politician as he tried to make a speech alongside the comedian Eddie Izzard.