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| Nick Clegg's war of words with coalition partners | Nick Clegg's war of words with coalition partners |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| This coalition game is all still new in modern Britain, but more than a few were taken aback by the ferocity of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's attacks on his Conservative coalition partners this week. | This coalition game is all still new in modern Britain, but more than a few were taken aback by the ferocity of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's attacks on his Conservative coalition partners this week. |
| Here's a taster of what he had to say at Monday's press conference about Conservative proposals to make a further £12bn of welfare cuts: | |
| "There is a very interesting debate emerging... driven by two very clear ideological impulses, one is to remorselessly cut back the state and secondly, and I think they're making a monumental mistake in doing so, but they've said that the only section of society who will bare the burden of further fiscal consolidation will be the working age poor, those dependent on welfare." | "There is a very interesting debate emerging... driven by two very clear ideological impulses, one is to remorselessly cut back the state and secondly, and I think they're making a monumental mistake in doing so, but they've said that the only section of society who will bare the burden of further fiscal consolidation will be the working age poor, those dependent on welfare." |
| "I remain perplexed that the Conservatives still refuse to countenance any change in the tax system to ask people occupying very large value properties to make a small additional contribution to this effort - you have to spread the burden as fairly as possible and not only ask the working age poor dependent on welfare to burden the load." | "I remain perplexed that the Conservatives still refuse to countenance any change in the tax system to ask people occupying very large value properties to make a small additional contribution to this effort - you have to spread the burden as fairly as possible and not only ask the working age poor dependent on welfare to burden the load." |
| "There is not a serious economist around who believes cuts to welfare alone... lopsided approach... The Conservative Party, it seems to me, is now out on an ideological limb, almost unique in developed economies in saying 'we are not going to ask people of very great wealth, of very high incomes to make any additional contributions to the tax system, we are going to ask people with narrower shoulder to make sacrifices to finish the job'." | "There is not a serious economist around who believes cuts to welfare alone... lopsided approach... The Conservative Party, it seems to me, is now out on an ideological limb, almost unique in developed economies in saying 'we are not going to ask people of very great wealth, of very high incomes to make any additional contributions to the tax system, we are going to ask people with narrower shoulder to make sacrifices to finish the job'." |
| "It's worth stressing what an extreme position they are taking saying that all the shortfall should come from welfare cuts." | "It's worth stressing what an extreme position they are taking saying that all the shortfall should come from welfare cuts." |
| It started all so well. They seemed the perfect pair. David Cameron and Nick Clegg were likened to a young married couple when they launched the coalition with a press conference in the Downing Street Rose Garden. | It started all so well. They seemed the perfect pair. David Cameron and Nick Clegg were likened to a young married couple when they launched the coalition with a press conference in the Downing Street Rose Garden. |
| But both are now preparing for their split at the next election in 16 months, with Nick Clegg's comments this week marking a step up in the policy of "differentiation" (making clear in voters' minds how Lib Dems differ from Tories). | But both are now preparing for their split at the next election in 16 months, with Nick Clegg's comments this week marking a step up in the policy of "differentiation" (making clear in voters' minds how Lib Dems differ from Tories). |
| Having said that, Clegg avoided any personal attacks on his prime ministerial chum, although he did not pull his punches as he attacked Conservatives over a range of issues. | Having said that, Clegg avoided any personal attacks on his prime ministerial chum, although he did not pull his punches as he attacked Conservatives over a range of issues. |
| Here's a taster of what Nick Clegg said at the same press conference about general values/principles: | |
| "The Liberal Democrats are the only party that can finish the job (of cutting the deficit) and, unlike the Conservatives, finish it fairly." | "The Liberal Democrats are the only party that can finish the job (of cutting the deficit) and, unlike the Conservatives, finish it fairly." |
| "I think it is simply not serious politics for the Conservative Party to say we are so reluctant to ask the wealthiest to make even a smidgeon of an extra contribution we are going to ask all future sacrifices to come from the working age poor who depend on welfare. That is unrealistic, and not only is it unrealistic, I think it is unfair and I think it reveals something about their motives that I don't agree with. | "I think it is simply not serious politics for the Conservative Party to say we are so reluctant to ask the wealthiest to make even a smidgeon of an extra contribution we are going to ask all future sacrifices to come from the working age poor who depend on welfare. That is unrealistic, and not only is it unrealistic, I think it is unfair and I think it reveals something about their motives that I don't agree with. |
| "The only way you can ensure that the Conservatives do not pander to their worse instincts is by having Liberal Democrats around the cabinet table. I think coalition has proved its worth." | "The only way you can ensure that the Conservatives do not pander to their worse instincts is by having Liberal Democrats around the cabinet table. I think coalition has proved its worth." |
| At least on Europe the Liberal Democrats have always been openly at odds with David Cameron's party. | |
| Here's what Nick Clegg said during the preamble to Monday's press conference about what he called a Lib Dem priority: | |
| "If securing a sustainable economic recovery is our priority, the worst way of doing that is to start threatening to pull out of the European Union as UKIP want to, or flirting with exit from the European Union as the Conservatives want to, or failing to even make the case for our membership of the European Union as Labour are doing. It would be madness, an act of economic suicide for us to pull the rug out from under our membership of the European Union." | "If securing a sustainable economic recovery is our priority, the worst way of doing that is to start threatening to pull out of the European Union as UKIP want to, or flirting with exit from the European Union as the Conservatives want to, or failing to even make the case for our membership of the European Union as Labour are doing. It would be madness, an act of economic suicide for us to pull the rug out from under our membership of the European Union." |
| Nick Clegg did make clear that he was proud of the coalition's record in tackling its central mission of sorting out the nation's finances. But there's a clear effort under way to get the credit for certain policies (and blaming their partners for others): | Nick Clegg did make clear that he was proud of the coalition's record in tackling its central mission of sorting out the nation's finances. But there's a clear effort under way to get the credit for certain policies (and blaming their partners for others): |
| For instance, on tax priorities and the rise in the starting level of tax to £10,000: | For instance, on tax priorities and the rise in the starting level of tax to £10,000: |
| "The Conservatives are a bit a chameleon party when it comes to tax priorities. At the beginning of this parliament their priority was tax cuts for dead millionaires. Then it was the upper rate of tax for higher earners, then it was marriage tax breaks. Now we hear this weekend sudden enthusiasm for the Liberal Democrat policy of taking people out of income tax - low earners." | "The Conservatives are a bit a chameleon party when it comes to tax priorities. At the beginning of this parliament their priority was tax cuts for dead millionaires. Then it was the upper rate of tax for higher earners, then it was marriage tax breaks. Now we hear this weekend sudden enthusiasm for the Liberal Democrat policy of taking people out of income tax - low earners." |
| "If the Conservatives were prepared to give up spending huge amounts of money on their own tax pet projects whether it's the marriage tax break, what I call the unmarried couples tax penalty, or the tax incentives encouraging people to give up employment rights in return for shares…" | "If the Conservatives were prepared to give up spending huge amounts of money on their own tax pet projects whether it's the marriage tax break, what I call the unmarried couples tax penalty, or the tax incentives encouraging people to give up employment rights in return for shares…" |
| "We had one idea, the mansion tax. We worked it up in government, the Treasury worked it up. We had a very simple way of doing it which is basically introducing new council tax bands. It was stopped by the Conservatives for no reason other than they did not want to offend some of their very high value backers. Now that is not a sufficiently good reason basis on which you decide tax and spending policies, you've got to try and do it as objectively as possible." | "We had one idea, the mansion tax. We worked it up in government, the Treasury worked it up. We had a very simple way of doing it which is basically introducing new council tax bands. It was stopped by the Conservatives for no reason other than they did not want to offend some of their very high value backers. Now that is not a sufficiently good reason basis on which you decide tax and spending policies, you've got to try and do it as objectively as possible." |
| The two parties are also well know to have had differences on immigration. | The two parties are also well know to have had differences on immigration. |
| Nick Clegg was withering about the Home Office's record when asked at Monday's event about the subject. | |
| "On exit checks, I've made it very clear to Theresa May and to the Home Office that I am both impatient and fairly displeased that given the fact I personally insisted that the reinstatement of exit checks was in the coalition agreement that we are now in the last full year of this parliament and they still haven't happened. And so I very much hope that in the latter stages of this parliament - I've asked the Home Office to go away and come up with a credible plan for restoring exit checks - that we can make real progress. Better late than never, but I frankly wish the Home Office had done what I asked them four years ago which was to get on with it." | "On exit checks, I've made it very clear to Theresa May and to the Home Office that I am both impatient and fairly displeased that given the fact I personally insisted that the reinstatement of exit checks was in the coalition agreement that we are now in the last full year of this parliament and they still haven't happened. And so I very much hope that in the latter stages of this parliament - I've asked the Home Office to go away and come up with a credible plan for restoring exit checks - that we can make real progress. Better late than never, but I frankly wish the Home Office had done what I asked them four years ago which was to get on with it." |
| The only direct dig at David Cameron came when asked about TV debates: | The only direct dig at David Cameron came when asked about TV debates: |
| "The only major party leader who needs to sign on a dotted line is David Cameron and the Conservatives and I hope they won't use their anxieties about UKIP and Nigel Farage as an excuse not to give the British people the right to see the leaders debates take place again next time." | "The only major party leader who needs to sign on a dotted line is David Cameron and the Conservatives and I hope they won't use their anxieties about UKIP and Nigel Farage as an excuse not to give the British people the right to see the leaders debates take place again next time." |
| The message Nick Clegg wants to get across was clear from the backdrop to Monday's press conference at which he delivered all the quotes in this article. | |
| The last question he was asked was whether, given that he had questioned the Conservatives' motives, extremism and monumental mistakes, he had been conned by them in 2010? | |
| "I did not give George Osborne's speech, I am not a Conservative. They have taken the decision to say to the British people 16 months before the general election we are only going to ask the working age poor to make sacrifices from here on in. I am reacting to that." | "I did not give George Osborne's speech, I am not a Conservative. They have taken the decision to say to the British people 16 months before the general election we are only going to ask the working age poor to make sacrifices from here on in. I am reacting to that." |
| "I think clearly during the course of this coalition we have delivered things…. The Conservatives have now decided to take a completely different stance for the future and they are perfectly entitled to do so. I am equally entitled..." | "I think clearly during the course of this coalition we have delivered things…. The Conservatives have now decided to take a completely different stance for the future and they are perfectly entitled to do so. I am equally entitled..." |
| To be fair to the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg did make references to Labour, saying they couldn't be trusted with the economy, and it wasn't all negative about his coalition partners: | To be fair to the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg did make references to Labour, saying they couldn't be trusted with the economy, and it wasn't all negative about his coalition partners: |
| "Any government will have to try and bring debt down as a proportion of GDP otherwise you'll be spending billions of pounds on debt interest rather than on schools and hospitals - so this is an on-going effort and I strongly agree with George Osborne when he says the job is not yet finished." | "Any government will have to try and bring debt down as a proportion of GDP otherwise you'll be spending billions of pounds on debt interest rather than on schools and hospitals - so this is an on-going effort and I strongly agree with George Osborne when he says the job is not yet finished." |
| So the question being asked now by many is whether the coalition can really survive until the election in May 2015 when the partners are being so openly rude about each other. | So the question being asked now by many is whether the coalition can really survive until the election in May 2015 when the partners are being so openly rude about each other. |
| This was the week, let's not forget, when Nick Clegg was likened to a condom by the Conservative mayor of London, Boris Johnson. | This was the week, let's not forget, when Nick Clegg was likened to a condom by the Conservative mayor of London, Boris Johnson. |
| Here are two commentators' views on the coalition's future: | Here are two commentators' views on the coalition's future: |
| In the Financial Times, George Parker writes: "Tory frustration with Mr Clegg is mounting... the prospect of the coalition partners involved in vitriolic squabbles poses risks for Mr Clegg who regards the establishment of a stable and effective coalition as a strategic breakthrough for the Lib Dems. | In the Financial Times, George Parker writes: "Tory frustration with Mr Clegg is mounting... the prospect of the coalition partners involved in vitriolic squabbles poses risks for Mr Clegg who regards the establishment of a stable and effective coalition as a strategic breakthrough for the Lib Dems. |
| "Some will question whether the government can still transact business - including a Queen's Speech, two more Budgets and an Autumn Statement - while its principal players are publicly at loggerheads.... but civil servants believe an instinct for political survival will force Lib Dems and Tories to see out the coalition in an orderly fashion." | "Some will question whether the government can still transact business - including a Queen's Speech, two more Budgets and an Autumn Statement - while its principal players are publicly at loggerheads.... but civil servants believe an instinct for political survival will force Lib Dems and Tories to see out the coalition in an orderly fashion." |
| In the Daily Mail Stephen Glover writes: "In recent weeks a new asperity, even nastiness, has crept into Lib Dem criticism of their Tory partners... can government proceed when its two constituent parts are increasingly at war? In a technical sense it probably can. I expect the coalition to survive until the election in May 2015. But never before in modern times has a government been so openly riven with dispute. | In the Daily Mail Stephen Glover writes: "In recent weeks a new asperity, even nastiness, has crept into Lib Dem criticism of their Tory partners... can government proceed when its two constituent parts are increasingly at war? In a technical sense it probably can. I expect the coalition to survive until the election in May 2015. But never before in modern times has a government been so openly riven with dispute. |
| "Hitherto the approach of the Tory high command has been to absorb Lib Dem knocks and, other than perhaps a mild joke at Vince Cable's expense, not retaliate... I'm not urging blind retaliation. It's just that when your so-called partners twist what you think and try to foul up your message, it's time to act... the one thing that will not take place is a mass exodus from the coalition by the Lib Dems. | "Hitherto the approach of the Tory high command has been to absorb Lib Dem knocks and, other than perhaps a mild joke at Vince Cable's expense, not retaliate... I'm not urging blind retaliation. It's just that when your so-called partners twist what you think and try to foul up your message, it's time to act... the one thing that will not take place is a mass exodus from the coalition by the Lib Dems. |
| "They like power and its trappings too much and want to stick around until the end of the Parliament in order to claim their share of credit for the economic recovery." | "They like power and its trappings too much and want to stick around until the end of the Parliament in order to claim their share of credit for the economic recovery." |