Nick Clegg is right – being European is special

The theme of the week has to be ‘coming home’: first the women’s football trophy, and now one-time Deputy PM, Nick Clegg, who says he will share his time between the two sides of the Atlantic. He had recently hinted at a return, describing himself as ‘at heart, European’.

Some might question this as a reason for swapping continents. Why would anyone paid a multi-million dollar Silicon Valley salary, enjoying a multi-million dollar California mansion, with the cars, the staff and the space of the New World, even consider moving back to the Old Country, especially as the nights draw in and the (stratospherically priced) heating has to be switched on?

Well, cut out all the references to millions, let alone multi-millions, and for me, Clegg struck a chord, because I made a similar choice. I spent five years as a foreign correspondent based in Washington DC. I could have stayed.