After being too busy talking to ‘normal people’ in Cornwall last Wednesday and missing previous PMQs presumably to do the same, Nick Clegg will not only be attending this Wednesday’s session, he’ll be taking it. David Cameron won’t be around because he’s visiting Turkey this week, and so the Deputy Prime Minister will step into his shoes.
Today sees another rather tedious round of Coalition infighting in which the two parties remind everyone else that they’re separate. The Tory line seems to be that their partners are ‘all over the place’, with both George Osborne and Cameron using that phrase over the past couple of days. The Lib Dems want to talk about their different spending plans for the next parliament. If they end up in Coalition, they’ll have to find a way of agreeing.
So how will Clegg, fresh from his sessions with ‘normal people’, illustrate the differences at PMQs? He will certainly be pushed on it by Tory MPs, who are increasingly frustrated with the Lib Dems’ outspokenness.
As for whether all this public arguing brings the end of the Coalition nearer, the safe bet is that it doesn’t.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in