“I was elected by the people of Wavertree to improve their lives, I will not be toeing the national party line at their expense, just because we’re in a weak coalition, that will deliver nothing to the Lib-Dems except total electoral decimation.

“I give you that absolute guarantee, we will be wiped out by Labour in the North and the Tories in the South, and at last the media will have that two-party system that they have always craved.”

The former council leader called a special council meeting to criticise the coalition, but Cllr Kemp, who leads the party’s representation at the Local Government Association, said the party needs to concentrate on the positives of being in coalition.

In Liverpool, both the opposition Lib-Dems and the Labour administration have put forward motions condemning the scrapping of BSF.

The emails show the clear divide that is forming between Lib-Dems – some believe a split in the party is becoming inevitable.

BSF has become a touchstone issue for many in the party.

Cllr Kemp welcomed the demise of BSF, branding it an “expensive disaster”.

“Times will be difficult,” he wrote to Cllr Bradley. “We need to remind people that Alistair Darling when Chancellor said that he would introduce bigger cuts than Margaret Thatcher and that the last Labour budget introduced cuts in capital and revenue, from April 1, 2011, which would have taken public sector spending below 1997 levels. This financial mess is not of our making.

“As we did in Liverpool, we will need to sort out Labour's financial mess before the country can move forward.”