Q&A with Nick Clegg
Aug. 11th, 2011 06:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhythmaningI went to listen to Nick Clegg yesterday. He was answering questions from London members of the Liberal Democrats and, having opportunity to hear the deputy Prime Minister speak, I wanted to hear what he had to say.
I thought the discussion might have been dominated by questions of the recent disturbances in England and Wales, but it wasn’t – there were a couple of questions, but most questions covered other topics. He was late because he’d been in private meetings in Bermondsey (Simon Hughes’ constituency) about the riots – I had expected the meeting to have been cancelled since he must have been pretty busy.
There wasn’t really any debate: people asked Clegg a question, he answered it and moved on; so there wasn’t really any opportunity to challenge what he said. He knew many in the audience – longstanding, hardcore members (rather than fly-by-nights like me…); indeed, I sat in close proximity to Lembit Opik.
Clegg started off by talking briefly about his first year in office – “not wholly comfortable” – and emphasising aspects of the LibDem manifesto that the party has been able to enact as a result of being the junior member of the coalition – he mentioned increasing tax allowances to remove the low paid from taxation, reinstating the link between the state pension and earning, and protecting childcare for disadvantaged families. (It is surprisingly hard to find a list of the LibDems’ accomplishments on their website – I tried! – but this website covers most bases.)
He raised the issue of the economy; he blamed our current predicament not just on the previous Labour administration, but nearly thirty years of unsustainable development since the Big Bang, with “the illusion of prosperity… growth… [and] wealth” arising from “debt and mortgages… unsustainable property prices… [particularly in London] … borrowing and spending we couldn’t afford”. The necessary reforms to the economy – the pain we are suffering at the moment – are for the long term benefit (but, as Clegg noted, elections are a short term phenomenon).
Most of the questions focussed on the nature of the coalition; the relationship with the media; spending cuts; and the economy. Clegg was unable to answer or took offline specific questions on alcoholism (following a BBC investigation), the impact of the cuts on the disabled, specific actions needed in Tottenham and so on.
On the coalition, Clegg was at pains to emphasise that the LibDems were very different from the Conservative party – by its nature conservative, whilst LibDems wanted change. He said that the party hadn’t entered coalition lightly – but that decisions had been needed quickly after the last general election to defend the UK’s standing with the financial markets. Clegg said he believed that the LibDems had made mistakes in the first year politically; but he also said that the LibDems had to show that they could govern: at the last general election, many voters had supported the LibDems but felt they had lacked credibility.
He believed the LibDems were fighting on several fronts: the media tried to ignore the party, being happier with left-right arguments which Labour and the Tories fall into. He saw the LibDems as working on a different axis – neither left nor right: the top down patronage of Labour that leads to centralisation and state control, and the natural pessimism and resistance to change of the Conservatives. It was down to local campaigners to get out there to tell voters of LibDem achievements, since the media wouldn’t.
Afterwards, I realised he had said nothing about civil liberties – which seem to be increasingly under threat, particularly with knee-jerk reactions to the riots - and nothing about next year’s election for Mayor of London – probably just as well, since the LibDems will be voting for their candidate at the end of August - and one of those standing is Lembit Opik.
I thought the discussion might have been dominated by questions of the recent disturbances in England and Wales, but it wasn’t – there were a couple of questions, but most questions covered other topics. He was late because he’d been in private meetings in Bermondsey (Simon Hughes’ constituency) about the riots – I had expected the meeting to have been cancelled since he must have been pretty busy.
There wasn’t really any debate: people asked Clegg a question, he answered it and moved on; so there wasn’t really any opportunity to challenge what he said. He knew many in the audience – longstanding, hardcore members (rather than fly-by-nights like me…); indeed, I sat in close proximity to Lembit Opik.
Clegg started off by talking briefly about his first year in office – “not wholly comfortable” – and emphasising aspects of the LibDem manifesto that the party has been able to enact as a result of being the junior member of the coalition – he mentioned increasing tax allowances to remove the low paid from taxation, reinstating the link between the state pension and earning, and protecting childcare for disadvantaged families. (It is surprisingly hard to find a list of the LibDems’ accomplishments on their website – I tried! – but this website covers most bases.)
He raised the issue of the economy; he blamed our current predicament not just on the previous Labour administration, but nearly thirty years of unsustainable development since the Big Bang, with “the illusion of prosperity… growth… [and] wealth” arising from “debt and mortgages… unsustainable property prices… [particularly in London] … borrowing and spending we couldn’t afford”. The necessary reforms to the economy – the pain we are suffering at the moment – are for the long term benefit (but, as Clegg noted, elections are a short term phenomenon).
Most of the questions focussed on the nature of the coalition; the relationship with the media; spending cuts; and the economy. Clegg was unable to answer or took offline specific questions on alcoholism (following a BBC investigation), the impact of the cuts on the disabled, specific actions needed in Tottenham and so on.
On the coalition, Clegg was at pains to emphasise that the LibDems were very different from the Conservative party – by its nature conservative, whilst LibDems wanted change. He said that the party hadn’t entered coalition lightly – but that decisions had been needed quickly after the last general election to defend the UK’s standing with the financial markets. Clegg said he believed that the LibDems had made mistakes in the first year politically; but he also said that the LibDems had to show that they could govern: at the last general election, many voters had supported the LibDems but felt they had lacked credibility.
He believed the LibDems were fighting on several fronts: the media tried to ignore the party, being happier with left-right arguments which Labour and the Tories fall into. He saw the LibDems as working on a different axis – neither left nor right: the top down patronage of Labour that leads to centralisation and state control, and the natural pessimism and resistance to change of the Conservatives. It was down to local campaigners to get out there to tell voters of LibDem achievements, since the media wouldn’t.
Afterwards, I realised he had said nothing about civil liberties – which seem to be increasingly under threat, particularly with knee-jerk reactions to the riots - and nothing about next year’s election for Mayor of London – probably just as well, since the LibDems will be voting for their candidate at the end of August - and one of those standing is Lembit Opik.