It’s hard to know quite what to make of Nick Clegg’s speech
just now. It never really soared as a piece of oration, but he skipped quite expertly across all the issues that might concern, delight and enliven a Lib Dem audience. And so we heard about how much the Lib Dems are contributing towards government; about how the cuts are a prerequisite for fairness; and about how the party will maintain its independence. On the whole, this was coalition politics shaded yellow. But Clegg managed to drop in a few unadulterated sweeteners for his audience – including a dig at the “still illegal” Iraq War. The overall response was warmer than he might have expected
If there was any element of the speech worth dwelling upon, then it was probably Clegg’s argument on the public finances. Here, he managed to do something new – and, in doing so, turned the “investment vs cuts” argument on its head.
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