Peter Hoskin

Clegg adheres to the script on deficit reduction

What a curious speech by Nick Clegg to the CBI last night. Curious, not because it was bad — but because, in straining to give a uniquely “liberal” justification for deficit reduction and the spending cuts, the Deputy Prime Minister actually crafted an address that most Tory ministers should, and would, deliver themselves. Take his “liberal analysis” of the last decade:

“On a liberal analysis, the last decade represented the worst of all worlds. On the one hand: unchecked private debt; an unsustainable housing market; an overleveraged banking sector; overreliance on City-based financial services while other regions and sectors suffered neglect. On the other: an inefficient state; central government wasting huge sums of public funds, instead of investing to underpin lasting growth; whole communities dependent on the public sector for jobs. Balancing the books won’t, alone, correct that imbalance; we need deep-seated change.”

Or his “liberal vision” for the economy of the future:

“I also want to set out the liberal vision for a new economy: rebalanced so prosperity is spread across all our regions; generated by many more sectors, with more opportunities for people to get ahead — irrespective of the circumstances of their birth.”

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