Freedom Central » Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg dismisses fears on timing of AV referendum

Freedom Central — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:39:21 +0000

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has dismissed concerns over plans to hold a referendum on voting reform on the same day as elections to devolved administrations.

Speaking to the newly-constituted political and constitutional reform select committee last week, Mr. Clegg said:

“I really struggle to understand why the extensive and wide-ranging debates about the future of Scotland, about the government of Scotland, the politics of Holyrood would in any way be subsumed or overshadowed or overturned by a separate, very very clear, simple yes or no vote on how in future people vote for their MPs,” he said.

“I am genuinely trying to work out what the allegation is. I speak to friends of mine who will be voting in Scotland and they say they see no complexity at all.”

He said evidence from across the UK suggested the electorate was perfectly capable of dealing with a “dizzying array” of different voting systems and combined polls.

Summing it up

Freedom Central — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:19:01 +0000

In yesterday’s Independent Mary Dejevsky asks what is all the fuss about with regards to Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats? What on earth has Nick done wrong?

The fact that a coalition government is a novelty for most British voters may offer a partial explanation for the ferocity of current attacks. As may the bitterness of the left, which believed – and still believes – that if there was going to be a coalition, it should be their coalition. Hell hath no fury like establishment left-wingers scorned.

But there really should be no excuses. What we are watching is not the normal cut and thrust of politics; it is a type of after-the-fact combat that reflects the refusal of the losers to accept their loss and a wilful denial that there might be another way of doing politics.

There is another way, though, and we are looking at it. To accuse the Liberal Democrats of treachery is to misunderstand how coalitions work and what they are for. A coalition presupposes compromise. And the reason this coalition has the complexion it does – to the right of centre – is that this is how the country voted.

Nor was anyone misled. During the campaign, Nick Clegg said he would talk first to whichever party gained most seats; this was always likely to be the Conservatives, and any rational voter knew that. In the event, however, Mr Clegg’s decision was made for him. The numbers did not add up any other way. Some Lib Dems might feel that, to save their honour, their party should have stayed aloof. Some Conservatives might have preferred David Cameron to form a minority government. But anyone who denounces the coalition as undemocratic must recognise that the alternatives were even more so.

In the unlikely event that the Lib Dems’ detractors can accept that coalition means compromise, they have then to address a new question. Were the Lib Dems inept in their coalition negotiations? Could they have extracted from the Conservatives much more than they did? The answer is surely No. To be sure, there are points that need clarification: the timetable for the proposed referendum on a new voting system, for a start. But a pretty comprehensive rollback of illiberal late-Labour legislation is not nothing.

As for the Budget that has been the subject of such venom, critics have to ask what this Budget would have looked like without the contribution of the Liberal Democrats. Would the threshold for the basic rate of income tax have been raised? By so much? Would child benefit and pensioners’ one-off benefits have been retained? Would the capital spending programme have been largely spared? Would there have been such an emphasis on the regions? Would the 50 per cent top rate of income tax have survived?

Nor is a tally of 22 ministers, with at least one in each major government department, to be sneezed at. (It is not the Tories’ fault that one resigned and another’s effectiveness may have been compromised by a newly messy private life.) Would, let’s say, Ken Clarke have become Justice Secretary in a Conservative-only government? And, even if he had been given a Cabinet post, would he have been in a position to suggest not only that the prison population was too large, but that something should be done about it – something that, in the short term at least, might cost money?

Then take foreign policy. It is hard to envisage that William Hague would have given the foreign policy speech he gave yesterday had he represented a Conservative-only government. His promise to send more high-flying diplomats to Brussels can be read two ways, but the cordial reception that he and the Prime Minister have received in European capitals would have been improbable if Nick Clegg, who is fluent in “European”, as well as all his other languages, had not been around to smooth the way. And if those first meetings in Europe had gone badly, might Mr Cameron have found himself looking less like a national leader in his own right at last weekend’s Canada summits and more like President Obama’s very junior partner?

It is early days. But in their first efforts at coalition government, Nick Clegg and his small troupe of Liberal Democrats have nothing to be ashamed of – nor, indeed, does Mr Cameron. Both are being punctilious about looking and sounding collegiate. And the proof that all is not going so badly is the – so far – narrowly predictable provenance of the attacks. A leaderless Labour is talking “fig-leaves”; there are lobbyists whose job is to exaggerate their causes; there are militant trade unionists shouting “fiscal fascism”, and there are hyperbolic chatterers on the left. Helped along, perhaps, by the distractions of the World Cup and Wimbledon, the warm weather and the hope of holidays, the voters are keeping calm. To their credit, they still agree with Nick.

Why we have to do this

Freedom Central — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:28:20 +0000

Nick Clegg e-mailed party members last night to outline why today’s budget is so important and so necessary:

Tomorrow, the coalition government will deliver an emergency budget to bring order back to the public finances. It will be a difficult budget – but remember, as you hear it, why we have to do this.

Labour left our country with a mountain of debt. Every minute that goes by the government spends a staggering £80,000 on interest, that’s over £800 million a week. If we don’t take action now, the markets will force us into even more drastic measures as they have in Greece and Spain.

Without action on the deficit, we will carry on racking up unaffordable debts our children will have to pay off. We will carry on spending more money on debt interest than we do on our schools. And we will undermine the economic growth needed to create jobs and opportunities for all of us. There is nothing fair, liberal or progressive about any of that.

Of course, the Labour party will say that these decisions are not justified. They will say the budget creates risks for our economy and that Liberal Democrats have sold out to go along with Conservative cuts. They are wrong.

Every time you hear Labour say that, ask them why they covered up the details of the £44bn of cuts they themselves had planned. Ask them why they racked up so much debt that we could end up spending £70bn a year just on debt interest.

And ask them why they created this fiscal bombshell in the first place by refusing to take action against the reckless banks even when Vince Cable warned of the risks they were taking.

Until Labour accepts the blame for the mess we are in and comes up with a plan for getting us out, they cannot be taken seriously.

We have always argued that cuts would be necessary, but the timing should be based on economic circumstances, not political dogma. The economic situation today means that time has come.

A lot has changed even in the last few months. The crisis in the Eurozone and the problems in Greece and Spain have put huge pressure on us. The new Office of Budget Responsibility has shown that the structural deficit is bigger than we thought. And in government, we have discovered billions of pounds of unfunded spending promises Labour had made, cynically raising people’s hopes when they knew the coffers were bare.

So cuts must come. We have taken the difficult decisions with care, and with fairness at their heart. You will see the stamp of our Liberal Democrat values in tomorrow’s Budget. But nonetheless, it will be controversial. This is one of the hardest things we will ever have to do, but I assure you, the alternative is worse: rising debts, higher interest rates, less growth and fewer opportunities.

Sorting out Labour’s mess will be difficult but it is the right thing to do.

Nick Clegg at Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival

Peter Black — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:56:22 +0000

Nick Clegg spent an hour this morning addressing an audience, packing out the biggest possible venue at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival. He spoke about the General Election campaign, the process of forming a government as well as some of the key issues of the day, including the Iraq Inquiry and the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Philippe Sands, who interviewed the Liberal Democrat leader reports on the event at the Guardian Comment is Free website here. His assessment of the mood of the meeting chimes with mine:

Some involved with the festival were concerned that he would face a hostile audience, but the reception started warmly and grew warmer. Concerned that I would be accused of letting him off too lightly and warned by Simon Jenkins to cut off his flow, one of my numerous interruptions eventually generated cries of “Let him finish! Let him finish!”.

He charmed the audience, he came across as smart and passionate but not “a man of the left” (“I’m a liberal”). He easily won them over. He has grown immeasurably as a politician since I first met him three years ago, when he used to complain that he couldn’t get his message across. He seems entirely comfortable in his new job, even if he didn’t want to own up to enjoying the first month.

On the substance of the interview Sands got a useful concession from the Deputy Prime Minister, which chimes perfectly with the new openness that the coalition is trying to bring to Government:

On the Chilcot inquiry on the Iraq war, there was a major development: a clear commitment to make sure that the inquiry is able to publish a great number of documents: the current protocol on a presumption of confidentiality and secrecy will be changed to a presumption of publication, but most likely to coincide with the inquiry’s report, whenever that may be.

He concludes: It was a polished display, and judged by audience some audience members I spoke to one that was perceived as frank and honest. “It wasn’t dull and it wasn’t a performance,” a leading light from the world of theatre said to me. “That’s what I liked about it.”

A statement from the Deputy Prime Minister – Nick Clegg

Freedom Central — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:28:18 +0000

Nick Clegg made this statement earlier today:

“Tonight the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and the Federal Executive of the Liberal Democrat party have overwhelmingly accepted my recommendation that we should now enter into a coalition government with the Conservative Party.”

“Before I say anything more about that coalition government I would like to express my thanks and admiration for Gordon Brown. He has been a towering figure in British politics for well over a decade. And the manner in which he has acted over the last few days has demonstrated immense dignity, grace and a profound sense of his public duty.

“We are now going to form a new government More importantly than anything else, we are going to form a new kind of government; I hope this is the start of a new kind of politics I have always believed in. Diverse, plural, where politicians with different points of view find a way to work together to provide the good government for the sake of the whole country deserves.

“That was what we were asked to do by the people of Britain in the General Election last Thursday and that is what we will deliver.

“I want to thank David Cameron for the very open, constructive and workmanlike way in which we have come together to make this agreement on how we can come together in this coalition government. We are obviously politicians from different parties. I believe we are now united in seeking to meet the immense challenges that now face the country and to deliver a fairer, better Britain.

“Of course there will be problems along the way; of course there will be glitches. But I will always do my best to prove that new politics isn’t just possible – it is also better.

“I’d like to say something directly to the nearly seven million people who supported the Liberal Democrats in the General Election last week. I am now acutely aware that I carry your hopes and aspirations into this coalition agreement.

“I am sure you have many questions, maybe many doubts. But I can assure you I would not have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced it was a unique opportunity to deliver the changes you and I believe in.

• Fair taxes.
• A fair start in life for every child.
• A new approach to our discredited banking system and the prospect of green and sustainable economic growth.
• And new, open politics which you can trust once again.

“So I hope you will now keep faith with us let us prove to you that we can serve this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do. And with total dedication to the interests and livelihoods of everyone in this country.”

EXCLUSIVE – Time to transform Wales and the rest of Britain for good

Nick Clegg — Wed, 05 May 2010 04:50:33 +0000

We are now counting down the hours until the most exciting election of our political lives. No one could have predicted what we have seen over the last four weeks, and no one can predict what will happen between now and Friday morning. All we do know is that people are ready for something different, and that means that all bets are off.

So Liberal Democrats are fighting for every single vote. We are working around the clock to make sure people know that there is a party out there that shares their values and that will stand up for them and their families. They don’t have to settle for a Labour party that, after thirteen long years, has made our society less, not more, fair. They don’t have to settle for a Conservative party whose main priority is tax cuts for millionaires. And they don’t have to settle for Plaid Cymru, a party that cannot make a difference in Westminster.

Liberal Democrats offer hope: fair taxes, jobs that last in a new, green economy, clean, decent politics and much more power to Wales. Those are the changes that will hardwire fairness into our society. I do understand that, for some people, it isn’t always easy to make the leap to a party they might not have supported before, even after years of being let down by the others. But across Wales and the rest of Britain millions of voters are now ready to turn to us, because they see a better future, and they want to be part of it.

So every moment – every leaflet, every doorstep – counts. I know how hard Lib Dem activists work, and I thank you for it; how else would we keep up with parties who are bankrolled by the unions or their paymasters in Belize? And I know that our tenacity and determination will make these our most successful days yet in this campaign. I’ll be out on the road too, taking our message of fairness to the people I meet, and making sure they know that this time it can be different. In this election, unlike any I can remember, everything is now possible. Opportunities like this don’t come along very often, and it’s up to us to grab it. If we do we will, together, transform Wales and the rest of Britain for good.

Labour and Tories will leave students with £44,000 debts says Clegg

Freedom Central — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:18:56 +0000

The Liberal Democrats have chosen today to highlight the fact that students will be saddled with debts as high as £44,000 in the next five years under Labour and Conservative plans to raise tuition fees after the election.

According to recent reports, it is predicted fees could rise to £7,000 under Labour or the Conservatives.

Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping tuition fees and opposing any attempt to raise them. They have said that they will phase out tuition fees over six years, starting by immediately scrapping final year fees for students doing their first degree.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: “Labour and the Conservatives have been trying to keep tuition fees out of this election campaign. It’s because they don’t want to come clean with you about what they’re planning.Despite the huge financial strain fees already place on Britain’s young people, it is clear both Labour and the Conservatives want to lift the cap on fees. If fees rise to £7,000 a year, as many rumours suggest they would, within five years some students will be leaving university up to £44,000 in debt. That would be a disaster. If we have learnt one thing from the economic crisis, it is that you can’t build a future on debt.

“The Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students. We can’t do it overnight, but we can start straight away with students in their final year – that way means anyone at university this autumn will have their debt cut by at least £3,000. Students can make the difference in countless seats in this election. Use your vote to block those unfair tuition fees and get them scrapped once and for all.”

Liberal Democrats’ plans for a green sustainable economy

Newswire — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:08:28 +0000

At a press conference in Cardiff today, the Liberal Democrats set out radical plans to create jobs that last by stimulating a green, sustainable economy. The plans target £3.1bn of public spending that can be stopped and the money used to create jobs and protect the environment.

In the first year of a Liberal Democrat government in Westminster, increased spend on jobs and infrastructure package will see the Welsh budget increase by over £125 million. This money would be directed into a one-off jobs package – helping to deliver a fair, green economy

“Labour has let people down, in Wales and across Britain,” said Party Leader, Nick Clegg. “Over a decade of mismanagement of the economy has left too many families struggling. Labour simply can’t be trusted with another four years of our economy.

“The Liberal Democrats will begin our term in office with a one-year job creation and green economic stimulus plan.

“We have identified £3.1bn of public spending that can be stopped and the money used to create jobs and protect the environment.

“All parts of the UK will benefit from our stimulus plan through the devolved settlement. Wales’ budget will increase by over £125 million and we believe that this money should be used to boost the struggling Welsh economy.”

Kirsty Williams added:

“We need a new sort of economy in Wales, an economy that is different from the old and an economy that is financially and environmentally sustainable.

“We plan to invest £125 million, which will be offered to Wales in the first year of a Liberal Democrat government, in creating jobs though investing in insulation and bringing empty homes back into use. We’d also build a sustainable economy by investing money in disused industrial sites and ensuring our schools are energy efficient.

“We have credible and costed plans to get Wales out of this economic hole and ensure that it is protected from future economic downturns.

“A hundred years ago, the Welsh economy was a powerhouse of the world. After decades of Labour and Conservative policies, Wales is at the bottom of all the wrong league tables. We want to see Wales at the forefront of a green and sustainable economy.”

Clegg stood out from tired old politics of Labour and Conservatives says Kirsty

Freedom Central — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:46:11 +0000

Commenting on the first prime ministerial debate aired on ITV last night, Kirsty Williams said:

“Nick was honest and credible in the debate last night and that is something which is desperately needed in politics these days. He was calm under pressure, assured and confident; qualities that are needed in a leader.

“We’ve had 65 years of Labour and Conservative governments taking people for granted and last night’s debate proved that the two-party system that lead us to this economic crisis and dirty politics is no longer acceptable.

“While debates like these matter in engaging people in politics, the hard work of campaigning and listening to the electorate happens on the streets and on doorsteps. Today, Nick Clegg and the rest of the party are out there listening to the concerns of people right across Wales and the UK.

“Ieuan Wyn Jones said that Wales was not mentioned throughout the debate but Nick made clear reference to the hospital in Cardiff which is suffering from Labour’s immigration policies. Discussions about law and order, political reform and the deficit will affect Wales dramatically. I don’t know which programme Ieuan was watching but this just continues to prove that Plaid Cymru are irrelevant in this election.”

Liberal Democrats: Say goodbye to broken promises

Freedom Central — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:23:40 +0000

P.S. Yes we did clear all the paper up afterwards.