For the Liberal Democrats, general elections had traditionally been seen as a rare opportunity to get the same kind of attention regularly enjoyed by Labour and the Conservatives; a chance to talk about policies that were often ignored because "they're never going to happen".

Fast forward a year, and something is happening that, for the Liberal Democrats, is a new experience: the policies we championed during the election are becoming reality. I don't mean that consultations are being announced, votes held, or papers published. Over the next few days, lives will be changed for the better, thanks to the introduction of policies for which we have long campaigned.

On Friday, our pupil premium was introduced. That's £625m, eventually rising to £2.5bn, to be spent on most disadvantaged pupils, so that all children get a better education. On Wednesday, our income tax reform will begin. Many will be lifted out of income tax altogether, while basic-rate taxpayers get a £200 tax cut in cash terms. On the same day, our promise to bring in a "triple guarantee" for pensioners will become a reality, meaning that pensioners retiring today will get, on average, £15,000 more in state pension over their retirement than under Labour. And every day, millions of homes receive their polling cards for next month's referendum on AV. Electoral reform had felt like an unattainable goal for decades: now voters are being given their first chance to get rid of the broken system that helped produce the expenses scandal.

There is more to come. This week, I'll be announcing how the Government plans to tackle the difficult issue of social mobility, because for all the old promises and spending on this issue, social mobility in our country has stagnated. These are not policies designed for the quick fix, but deep and lasting changes that build on concrete policies such as the pupil premium and will have an effect for generations.

The idea that coalitions can't work has been comprehensively debunked. It was always one of the great Westminster myths that people would be unable to understand how two parties could work together in government with professionalism and respect. In only 12 months, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have shown how two parties can come together in the national interest to clean up the mess left by a third.

There is always an urge with many people in politics to focus on the negatives. Arguments sell more papers than agreements, and "Government delivers on key policy" is never likely to make it to the top of the news bulletins. But when people talk about policies that the Liberal Democrats have not been able to implement from our election manifesto, we should proudly point to this week as an example of the things we have achieved in government.

As a party with 57 MPs, we have inevitably had to make compromises: that's how coalition works. But the compromises of coalition government are infinitely preferable to watching from the sidelines as others deliver on their own policies.

This time we are in government, and in a single year have pointed Britain towards a better future and changed politics for good. This week will show people just how much we are achieving. I look forward to many more like it.

Senior Conservatives joined Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians in criticising Lady Warsi after she claimed that a Yes vote in the referendum on electoral reform would boost the prospects of the BNP. They pointed out that the BNP was on the same side as the Tories in opposing a switch to the alternative vote (AV) in the 5 May referendum.

Her critics accused her of giving the BNP credibility and publicity - the very things she argued that AV would provide for the far-right party. One senior Tory MP said: "It looks as though she didn't think it through. There's a growing feeling that she should be moved to a job as a departmental minister."

Speaking in London's East End, near where anti-fascists fought a march by Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts in 1936, Lady Warsi argued that a switch to AV would bring "a real risk that candidates would pander to extremists", with "more inflammatory campaigns, and more policies which appeal to people's worst instincts rather that to the values of the mainstream".

Supporters of AV were "backing a system which rewards extremism and gives oxygen to extremist groups", she claimed. It could also give parties like the BNP more legitimacy and "more power to those people - fringe voters, Monster Raving Loonies, and yes, fascists - who are voting for precisely the kind of extreme policies most people want to marginalise". Lady Warsi added: "It means that bigots will be given more power in our politics and extremists will look to gain more influence over mainstream parties." She conceded the BNP was in the same camp as the Tories but claimed that was only because the group wanted full-scale proportional representation.

The backlash against the Tory chairman came a day after the battle for the 5 May referendum took off when Ed Miliband joined Liberal Democrats and Greens in a cross-party push for a Yes vote. Mr Cameron, accused by some Tories of not campaigning hard enough for a No vote, told his MPs last night that he would make one speech each week opposing AV until the referendum.

Paul Sinclair, director of communications for the Yes to AV campaign, said: "The question Baroness Warsi has got to answer is: if AV is so good for fascists, why is the BNP campaigning along with her for a No vote? A number of groups who are the victims of the BNP are enthusiastic supporters of the Yes campaign."

Sadiq Khan, the shadow Justice Secretary, accused Lady Warsi of irresponsible scaremongering. "The very fact that the BNP opposes AV shows just how desperate her argument has become," he said. "None of the MPs or campaigners I have spoken to on either side of the AV debate have any intention of 'pandering' to extremists."

Baroness (Kishwer) Falkner, a Liberal Democrat peer, said: "Under AV, no one can get elected unless the majority of people support them which quite obviously makes it harder, not easier, for extremist parties. That's exactly why the BNP are campaigning for a No vote."

Farooq Murad, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "AV means all voters will have a stronger say in our elections, and all politicians will have to... secure majority support from the communities they seek to represent. The BNP is campaigning for a No vote because it knows what a Yes vote means - that racists who won't reach out have no future."