The Lib Dem penalty for a ‘breach of contract’ on the Lords

In his statement to the press this afternoon in which he confirmed that the Liberal Democrats were throwing the towel in over reform of the House of Lords, Nick Clegg tried to paint his party as the ‘mature one’. He said the coalition agreement was ‘a contract that keeps the coalition parties working together in the national interest’, and added:

‘My party has held to that contract even when it meant voting for things that we found difficult. The Liberal Democrats are proving themselves to be a mature and competent party of government and I am proud that we have met our obligations.’

Later he pointed out that it was not his party that had caused the Lords reforms, and therefore the boundary reforms too, to fail. The images in Clegg’s statement focused less on the idea of the coalition as a marriage that the media is so fond of and more on cold, hard business deals, and the consequences of breaking contractual agreements.