Nick Clegg reassures party faithful on election prospects
|
Version 0 of 1. Nick Clegg has reassured party activists that the Liberal Democrats will do “so much better than anyone thinks” at the general election in May. Launching the Lib Dems’ election campaign at the party’s spring conference in Liverpool on Sunday, the deputy prime minister told members: “I have a message for all those who are writing us off once again: the Liberal Democrats are here to stay. “I’ve heard the predictions. I’ve seen the polls. But let me tell you this: we will do so much better than anyone thinks.” The speech comes as polling by Opinium and the Observer puts the Liberal Democrats on 7% of the vote, down one point. A source close to Clegg told the paper that the Lib Dems could lose nearly half their seats and still remain a party of government. Clegg repeated his message that the Lib Dems could be a moderating force in a coalition government, saying none of the main parties were standing up for the moderate majority. “If you want a stable government that won’t lurch to the extremes of left or right, you have to vote for it.” He said: “Labour and the Conservatives are deserting the centre ground. Compromise is treated like a dirty word. Everywhere you look there is blame and division.” In his speech, Clegg repeated business secretary Vince Cable’s assurances that the Lib Dems would not go into coalition with the Scottish National party, saying that, after the general election, the Lib Dems would put the national interest first. “There is a whole cottage industry that has sprung up predicting which parties could end up in coalition with each other after the next election,” he said. “And, this morning, we hear that Ukip are offering a pact with the Tories, just as the SNP has offered to prop up the Labour party – in the one case to take the UK out of Europe; in the other to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom. “So let me be clear: just like we would not put Ukip in charge of Europe, we are not going to put the SNP in charge of Britain – a country they want to rip apart.” Clegg told activists that, whereas the last five years were about doing what was necessary, the next five would be about doing what was possible. He said the Lib Dems should take “just a little bit of the spirit” of the “audacious” Rosetta spacecraft project, which landed a space probe on a comet for the first time in November. “What an audacious, optimistic thing to have even dreamt of attempting. What an inspiring moment for thousands of young girls and boys to witness. What a beautiful, hopeful thing it said about us. “The British people have had to put in the hard yards and make real sacrifices these last five years. But if the last five years were about doing what was necessary, I want the next five to be about doing what is possible.” There was light at the end of the tunnel, Clegg said, adding that the deficit could be cleared in three years. He accused the two main party leaders of hoping to win by default, “not because the British people share their vision, but because they dislike them a little less than the other guy”. The speech came as a row erupted over an interview by the former Lib Dem president Tim Farron – a favourite to replace Clegg as leader – with the Mail on Sunday, in which he said the party could suffer for a generation as a result of the decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives. “In 2010, many people said: ‘I am not voting for you because of the [1970s] Lib-Lab pact’,” he said. “Just think what going into coalition with the Tories will do to our brand over the next generation.” Farron said the Lib Dems’ U-turn on tuition fees had caused lasting damage. “Integrity is important,” he said. “You must not only keep your word but be seen to keep your word. You can say no.” Paddy Ashdown, the former party leader, told the BBC that while Farron was a friend, he sometimes wished “he showed his ambition a little less and judgement and patience a bit more”. “His well-known ambition would be better served with a little more patience and a little more judgement,” he told Radio 5 Live, adding: “Judgement is not his strong suit.” |