Nick Clegg: Vince Cable never intended to offend teachers

Nick Clegg spent this morning singing the Lib Dem equivalent of Take That’s Back for Good, telling his target voters from the teaching profession that whatever one of his colleagues had said or did, they didn’t mean it. The Deputy Prime Minister was trying to apologise for comments by Vince Cable, who had rather clumsily underlined a valid point he was trying to make about the need for better careers advice in schools by suggesting that teachers ‘know absolutely nothing about the world of work’.

‘I know that Vince did not intend to offend teachers,’ pleaded the Deputy Prime Minister on his LBC radio show. He then described the profession as the ‘lifeblood of society’, which could risk offending those carrying out other worthy public services such as nursing, but never mind. Mr Clegg was anxious not to offend teachers because they and other public sector workers form a key part of the 25 per cent of voters who would either vote Lib Dem tomorrow or would consider doing so that the party is targeting with very specific messages in speeches and policy announcements.