Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg on his party's past, present and future at the start of his first autumn conference at the top of the orange tree.Mr Clegg seems in a happy enough mood as he meets journalists in Bournemouth. Maybe it's the sunny weather; maybe it's the fact he's sitting idly by while Britain's governing party is tearing itself to pieces. There is something a little gleeful about his manner as he enters the room. "I don't think there's any way back for them," he says. "We are watching the death throes of the Labour party." He tells politics.co.uk he is less than impressed with the situation in Westminster – particularly the housing measures announced last week as the start of prime minister Gordon Brown's relaunch. "They had the whole summer to think about it – their only plan was a wholly ineffective bribe, to bribe people in the affordable housing market. It's extraordinary to think that. It's the last thing you want to do while the housing market's going into a correction which has to run its course." What is unfortunate for the government is good news for the Lib Dems, who prioritise vulnerable Labour seats far higher than they do Conservative ones. "Unless they're prepared to take on the vested interests of the banking sector… they're not really in a very good position to provide the level of stimulus… [required]," Mr Clegg adds. It's the economy, stupid, which reflects the government close association with the "grandiloquence" of Britain's economic performance in the past few years. Of course it would be thoroughly wrong to assume the 41-year-old is against Labour but for the Tories, Far from it: Mr Clegg is sick to the back teeth of the two parties he believes have come to epitomise the elites dominating Westminster politics. He promises a "fairly sustained anti-establishment rant" at this evening's conference rally. "Maybe we should flag it up more," he muses. "We are by definition anti-establishment. Particularly on vested interests in the private sector such as banks and energy companies. We've always been the party of political reform which basically thinks the establishment system doesn't work." The party of "internal difficulties", too, or at least that's the case since the 2005 general election. Mr Clegg is the first to admit "crises" have dominated Britain's third party – but is keen to underline its progress under his leadership. "When I became leader… Gordon Brown was falling off the edge of a cliff. David Cameron had had two years to get through early difficulties and he was taking off. No one had the faintest idea who I was. "I sort of gulped… we had a run of unfortunate by-elections. We had ructions on Europe but good strong local elections, pushing Labour to third place. "I think it can only get better now, particular after this week. If we get ourselves started now, this key direction on public services and tax and spend, then we've got a much stronger message to send." This is all very well, but what about the polls? Mr Clegg has received criticism from some quarters for not turning around a serious decline seen under his predecessor Menzies Campbell. Even here, however, Mr Clegg is upbeat. "People say we should be doing better in the polls. I say – what are we, hovering around 18 per cent – that's three or four per cent more than last winter and is much higher than it is in the equivalent cycle before the last general elections," he says. It's a slightly awkward combination of realism and optimism, but surely familiar to regular conference-goers. Still, we have to give the soon-to-be father-of-three his due. "I'm not popping champagne corks, but it's naturally very, very resilient in view of what's been going on in politics generally." It is his first conference as leader, after all. Give the guy a break. Nick Clegg was talking to Alex Stevenson.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Interview: Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg speaks to politics.co.uk
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg on his party's past, present and future at the start of his first autumn conference at the top of the orange tree.Mr Clegg seems in a happy enough mood as he meets journalists in Bournemouth. Maybe it's the sunny weather; maybe it's the fact he's sitting idly by while Britain's governing party is tearing itself to pieces. There is something a little gleeful about his manner as he enters the room. "I don't think there's any way back for them," he says. "We are watching the death throes of the Labour party." He tells politics.co.uk he is less than impressed with the situation in Westminster – particularly the housing measures announced last week as the start of prime minister Gordon Brown's relaunch. "They had the whole summer to think about it – their only plan was a wholly ineffective bribe, to bribe people in the affordable housing market. It's extraordinary to think that. It's the last thing you want to do while the housing market's going into a correction which has to run its course." What is unfortunate for the government is good news for the Lib Dems, who prioritise vulnerable Labour seats far higher than they do Conservative ones. "Unless they're prepared to take on the vested interests of the banking sector… they're not really in a very good position to provide the level of stimulus… [required]," Mr Clegg adds. It's the economy, stupid, which reflects the government close association with the "grandiloquence" of Britain's economic performance in the past few years. Of course it would be thoroughly wrong to assume the 41-year-old is against Labour but for the Tories, Far from it: Mr Clegg is sick to the back teeth of the two parties he believes have come to epitomise the elites dominating Westminster politics. He promises a "fairly sustained anti-establishment rant" at this evening's conference rally. "Maybe we should flag it up more," he muses. "We are by definition anti-establishment. Particularly on vested interests in the private sector such as banks and energy companies. We've always been the party of political reform which basically thinks the establishment system doesn't work." The party of "internal difficulties", too, or at least that's the case since the 2005 general election. Mr Clegg is the first to admit "crises" have dominated Britain's third party – but is keen to underline its progress under his leadership. "When I became leader… Gordon Brown was falling off the edge of a cliff. David Cameron had had two years to get through early difficulties and he was taking off. No one had the faintest idea who I was. "I sort of gulped… we had a run of unfortunate by-elections. We had ructions on Europe but good strong local elections, pushing Labour to third place. "I think it can only get better now, particular after this week. If we get ourselves started now, this key direction on public services and tax and spend, then we've got a much stronger message to send." This is all very well, but what about the polls? Mr Clegg has received criticism from some quarters for not turning around a serious decline seen under his predecessor Menzies Campbell. Even here, however, Mr Clegg is upbeat. "People say we should be doing better in the polls. I say – what are we, hovering around 18 per cent – that's three or four per cent more than last winter and is much higher than it is in the equivalent cycle before the last general elections," he says. It's a slightly awkward combination of realism and optimism, but surely familiar to regular conference-goers. Still, we have to give the soon-to-be father-of-three his due. "I'm not popping champagne corks, but it's naturally very, very resilient in view of what's been going on in politics generally." It is his first conference as leader, after all. Give the guy a break. Nick Clegg was talking to Alex Stevenson.
Clegg hits “neoconservative” Cameron
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg on his party's past, present and future at the start of his first autumn conference at the top of the orange tree.Mr Clegg seems in a happy enough mood as he meets journalists in Bournemouth. Maybe it's the sunny weather; maybe it's the fact he's sitting idly by while Britain's governing party is tearing itself to pieces. There is something a little gleeful about his manner as he enters the room. "I don't think there's any way back for them," he says. "We are watching the death throes of the Labour party." He tells politics.co.uk he is less than impressed with the situation in Westminster – particularly the housing measures announced last week as the start of prime minister Gordon Brown's relaunch. "They had the whole summer to think about it – their only plan was a wholly ineffective bribe, to bribe people in the affordable housing market. It's extraordinary to think that. It's the last thing you want to do while the housing market's going into a correction which has to run its course." What is unfortunate for the government is good news for the Lib Dems, who prioritise vulnerable Labour seats far higher than they do Conservative ones. "Unless they're prepared to take on the vested interests of the banking sector… they're not really in a very good position to provide the level of stimulus… [required]," Mr Clegg adds. It's the economy, stupid, which reflects the government close association with the "grandiloquence" of Britain's economic performance in the past few years. Of course it would be thoroughly wrong to assume the 41-year-old is against Labour but for the Tories, Far from it: Mr Clegg is sick to the back teeth of the two parties he believes have come to epitomise the elites dominating Westminster politics. He promises a "fairly sustained anti-establishment rant" at this evening's conference rally. "Maybe we should flag it up more," he muses. "We are by definition anti-establishment. Particularly on vested interests in the private sector such as banks and energy companies. We've always been the party of political reform which basically thinks the establishment system doesn't work." The party of "internal difficulties", too, or at least that's the case since the 2005 general election. Mr Clegg is the first to admit "crises" have dominated Britain's third party – but is keen to underline its progress under his leadership. "When I became leader… Gordon Brown was falling off the edge of a cliff. David Cameron had had two years to get through early difficulties and he was taking off. No one had the faintest idea who I was. "I sort of gulped… we had a run of unfortunate by-elections. We had ructions on Europe but good strong local elections, pushing Labour to third place. "I think it can only get better now, particular after this week. If we get ourselves started now, this key direction on public services and tax and spend, then we've got a much stronger message to send." This is all very well, but what about the polls? Mr Clegg has received criticism from some quarters for not turning around a serious decline seen under his predecessor Menzies Campbell. Even here, however, Mr Clegg is upbeat. "People say we should be doing better in the polls. I say – what are we, hovering around 18 per cent – that's three or four per cent more than last winter and is much higher than it is in the equivalent cycle before the last general elections," he says. It's a slightly awkward combination of realism and optimism, but surely familiar to regular conference-goers. Still, we have to give the soon-to-be father-of-three his due. "I'm not popping champagne corks, but it's naturally very, very resilient in view of what's been going on in politics generally." It is his first conference as leader, after all. Give the guy a break. Nick Clegg was talking to Alex Stevenson.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment