LIB DEMS were “trailblazers” in attacking public services and workers’ rights, trade unions said yesterday after the troubled party blamed its election defeat on a decision to back tuition fees.

The party’s 57 seats in Parliament were reduced to just eight last year after voters punished them for kowtowing to Tory ideology throughout the 2010-15 coalition government.

But its latest internal report suggests the party suffered from a “perfect storm” of poor morale, an effective Tory strategy and public anger over the tuition fees U-turn.