The divisions laid bare

When The Speaker called a division, the Labour side roared a passionate No while the coalition benches delivered a rather muted Aye. I did not see a single Lib Dem open their mouth at this point. Instead, they sat on their benches looking emotionally exhausted. Even those Lib Dems who have been proved right in their warning about the party’s position on fees—notably, David Laws and Jeremy Browne—appeared downcast.
 
In the end, the government won but with a much reduced majority. 21 Lib Dems voted against the coalition, as did six Tories. Simon Hughes abstained despite Ed Miliband’s entreaties to come with him into the no lobby.
 
This meant that the Lib Dem’s three senior figures split three ways. Clegg for, the party president Tim Farron against, and the deputy leader abstaining.
 
Nick Clegg and his ministerial colleagues did, I think, do the right thing today. But Clegg cannot escape blame for accepting and actively campaigning for a policy that he knew to be unrealistic and undeliverable.