Tag Archives: nick clegg

Mark Pack

The coalition agreement: national security and the NHS

By Mark Pack | Wed 2nd June 2010 - 10:20 am

Welcome to the fourteenth in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.

The national security section is brief, outlining the creation of a National Security Council, the commencement of a defence review and a promise to “deny public funds to any group that has recently espoused or incited violence or hatred. We will proscribe such organisations”. The pledge on deportation is carefully balanced: “Britain should be able to deport foreign nationals who threaten our security to countries where there are verifiable guarantees that they will not be …

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Helen Duffett

Nick Clegg – working partner; working parent

By Helen Duffett | Wed 2nd June 2010 - 9:20 am

The Independent today features a relationship-focused interview with Nick Clegg. It looks mainly at two areas for balance: work/family and his working partnership with David Cameron:

Mr Clegg… insists he is determined to keep family life and government work as separate as humanly possible.

In this aim he has found an ally in the Prime Minister, who is also the father of small children. Both agreed to change the timing of a cabinet meeting to fit in with the school run. “I try – I haven’t entirely succeeded yet – as much as I can to take the kids to school,”

…

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Gaza ‘non-statement’ shows the need to keep the Lib Dem torch burning in the “new politics”

By Stephen Tall | Tue 1st June 2010 - 7:45 pm

Nick Clegg is not normally reticent about commenting on the Middle East – see, for example, his public call for the international community to stop arming Israel 18 months ago.

So why did it take more than a day for the Lib Dem leader to speak out against the “unjustifiable and untenable” blockade of the Gaza Strip? Why do his words appear only on the Press Association website, rather than the party’s? It was at least tweeted by the official Lib Dem account, but that was the only communication via official party channels.

The answer is clear …

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Posted in Op-eds | 44 Comments
The Voice

Clegg demands end to Gaza blockade #flotilla

By The Voice | Tue 1st June 2010 - 3:07 pm

Clegg speaks out on Gaza flotilla crisis

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called on Israel to lift its “unjustifiable and untenable” blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Mr Clegg said that the storming by Israeli commandos of a ship carrying aid to the Palestinian territory underlined the need for the blockade to end.

The United Nations Security Council called for a “prompt, impartial, credible and transparent” investigation into the raid, which left at least nine civilians dead and more than 30 people injured, including one Briton, according to the Foreign Office.

Mr Clegg said the situation in Gaza had become a “humanitarian catastrophe”. He

…

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged and | 37 Comments
Helen Duffett

David Laws’ resignation letter to the Prime Minister – and David Cameron’s response

By Helen Duffett | Sat 29th May 2010 - 8:42 pm

From the BBC:

Dear prime minister,

The last 24 hours have been very difficult and distressing for me, and I have been thinking carefully about what action I should take in the interests of the government, my constituents and – most important of all – those whom I love.

I am grateful for the strong support which I have received from my friends, family, and from you, the deputy prime minister and the chancellor.

This support has been incredibly important, but nonetheless, I have decided that it is right to tender my resignation as chief secretary to the Treasury.

I

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 37 Comments
Helen Duffett

Vince Cable stands down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

By Helen Duffett | Wed 26th May 2010 - 8:19 pm

Vince Cable has stood down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in order to concentrate on his role as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The text of Vince Cable’s letter to Nick Clegg is below:

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 55 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg on the Queen’s Speech: “Giving power back to the people”

By The Voice | Wed 26th May 2010 - 1:45 pm

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has just emailed all Lib Dem supporters to offer his take on yesterday’s Queen’s Speech, and the many ways in which it includes Liberal Democrat priorities at its heart:

Yesterday’s Queen’s Speech was unlike any we have seen for years. It was not simply another list of bills from a government determined to rule from the centre. It was not simply a speech from another one-party Government able to push through measures without the support of a majority of the country.

Instead, the speech marked the beginning of a radical move to rebalance the relationship between people

…

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Posted in News | 20 Comments
Helen Duffett

Nick Clegg to get his own Deputy Prime Minister’s Question Time

By Helen Duffett | Tue 25th May 2010 - 4:08 pm

The Times reports that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is to get his own Question Time:

The event, which has the broad agreement of the Speaker but is yet to be signed off by the new government, is likely to take place on Thursdays and be “bolted on” to Business Questions, where the agenda for the Commons is outlined. This will be seen as a sop to the Lib Dems who now sit on the government benches and lose the rights of opposition parties to cross-question the Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions will take place once a month rather than …

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Stephen Tall

Daily Mail slowly catching up with realities of coalition government

By Stephen Tall | Sat 22nd May 2010 - 1:10 pm

To mock the Daily Mail is, however satisfying and amusing, to largely miss the point: it is its own best self-parody. Today’s a case in point, as it dawns on the paper that a coalition government actually does mean the Lib Dems have some power. Devoid of irony, the Mail explodes with outrage:

Yes, that’s right: quite outrageously the leader of the party which won 23% of the national vote is set to have more power than an unelected peer. What is the country coming to?

If you can …

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

Details of Cabinet Committees published

By Mark Pack | Sat 22nd May 2010 - 12:20 pm

The Cabinet Office website has details of all the Cabinet Committees and who sits on which.

What’s notable from the Liberal Democrat perspective is the depth of both Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander’s involvement in them. Danny sits on eight of the eleven committees whilst Nick is Chair, Co-Chair or Deputy Chair of five.

The role of Cabinet Committees has varied greatly over the years, but in a government where negotiating policy agreements is at the the heart of its day-to-day work, the committees will be more than just talking shops passing the time until the Prime Minister decides.

Posted in News | Also tagged | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

PollWatch: views of the coalition government and party leaders

By Stephen Tall | Fri 21st May 2010 - 3:30 pm

Two polls have been published this week offering some early sense of public perceptions of the Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government, and how they rate the party leaders.

Public views of the coalition government

Angus Reid discovered that, overall, 58% of the public strongly/moderately approve of the coalition, while 31% strongly/moderately disapprove – that’s a net +27% approval rating. Approval is, as you might expect, stronger in the south of England (+41%), weaker in the north of England (+14%) and marginally negative in Scotland (-2%).

This breaks down in party support as follows:

  • Conservative voters: 84% approve, 11% disapprove (net approval:

…

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Posted in Polls | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

Labour – Lib Dem coalition talks: where James Macintyre gets it wrong

By Mark Pack | Thu 20th May 2010 - 1:59 pm

Having seen trailed in advance the research being done for today’s piece on why Labour/Lib Dem talks broke down, I was intrigued as to what James Macintyre would dig up.

But reading his piece, it’s a big disappointment – because it makes a trio of misjudgements, all of which burnish Labour’s reputation.

Let’s take them one by one.

First, he claims that the vetoing of a private meeting between Vince Cable and Alistair Darling someone shows the Lib Dems weren’t serious about talking to Labour. Actually, no. What it shows is that the party remembers how Gordon Brown went for a series …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 23 Comments
Stephen Tall

The differing approaches of the Lib Dem and Tory leaderships

By Stephen Tall | Thu 20th May 2010 - 9:45 am

The Guardian reports an interesting, and revealing, distinction between the respective leadership styles of the Lib Dems’ Nick Clegg and the Conservatives’ David Cameron.

The two party leaders gave a taste of their different styles of leadership yesterday as they consulted their parties . Clegg and his fellow Lib Dem ministers presented the document to a meeting of their parliamentary party last night where MPs and peers were taken through the document page by page.

Cameron used a meeting of the Tory parliamentary party to announce an immediate ballot to limit the power of backbench Tory MPs. In a move

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Helen Duffett

Nick Clegg to continue with Town Hall meetings

By Helen Duffett | Wed 19th May 2010 - 6:17 pm

He’s Deputy Prime Minister now, but it’s good to see that Nick Clegg plans to continue his practice of holding meetings where members of the public can come and ask him questions directly.

Nick’s starting off with a public meeting in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam. From www.nickclegg.com:

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Helen Duffett

A power revolution: Nick Clegg’s “New Politics” speech in full

By Helen Duffett | Wed 19th May 2010 - 2:21 pm

Revolutionary Nick Clegg graffiti

Today Nick Clegg made a speech setting out the Government’s plans for political reform, at the City & Islington College Centre for Business, Arts and Technology.

As Iain wrote this morning, the media are viewing Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats as revolutionaries, and drawing parallels with the Reform Act 1832.

Nick’s speech expands on three more R’s: repealing infringements on freedom, reforming politics and redistributing power.

Here it is in full:

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 25 Comments
Stephen Tall

Daily View 2×2: 17 May 2010 (with bonus ‘Prophet Steel’ video)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 17th May 2010 - 7:45 am

Happy Monday morning, everyone, and welcome to the first full week of Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government. Let’s get down to the news …

One Big Story

Lib Dem members give overwhelming thumbs-up to coalition government agreement

The Daily Telegraph has a fair-minded report proving that extraordinary things really can happen in the new politics (and in stark contrast to the snarkiness of the Grauniad):

… members voted “over-whelmingly” in support of the deal with no more than a dozen of the 2,000 delegates opposing the deal in a show of hands at the gathering in Birmingham. Speaking after the vote, Mr Clegg said: “It is a big step. There are lots of unknowns, there will be bumps and scrapes along the way”. He said the party’s special conference had taken a “very, very important decision” to approve the coalition “which is utterly new in modern British political history”. .. It is understood the while 100 members had quit the party since the deal was signed – a further 400 had joined.

The conference even earned plaudits from an unlikely source: ConservativeHome.com offered three cheers for the Lib Dems’ commitment to party democracy:

I take my hat off to the Liberal Democrats for the attempt to involve party members – the people who work so hard without expectation of office – in the decision to form a Coalition with the Conservatives. On a number of occasions Clegg met his MPs and party officers in a bid to hear their views and explain what he was doing. Today’s ratification of the deal will help bind the party into the fascinating Cameron-Clegg experiment. What a contrast with the Conservative Party where there has been next to no consultation of the party membership. Coming on top of Team Cameron’s various attempts to dilute Tory members’ role in membership selection it is all very disappointing.

Here’s how the BBC reported the day:

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , and | 7 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Don’t take offence at our coalition. Its aims are liberal

By NewsHound | Sat 15th May 2010 - 8:15 am

Over at Comment is Free, Nick Clegg explains the shared aims of the Lib-Con coalition:

The third runway at Heathrow has been cancelled. ID cards have been scrapped. There will be no more child detention. And reform is now under way to make taxes fair for millions of ordinary people.

These are some of the early achievements of a government that had its first cabinet meeting just two days ago. A new government but, more important, a new kind of government: plural, diverse; a Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition that defies the rules of old politics.

I know the birth of this coalition has

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 20 Comments
Ed Maxfield

Opinion: A moment of transformation?

By Ed Maxfield | Wed 12th May 2010 - 9:50 am

My family are a difficult bunch to please. This weekend my mother threatened to give up on the Lib Dems if Nick Clegg kept Gordon Brown in power and my sister threatened to move to Greece if he did a deal with the Tories.

Me? I’ve been fighting the Tories all my adult life, but I’ve been working to get Lib Dems into government all that time too. I am immensely proud and excited that Nick Clegg is Deputy Prime Minister (pinch me!) But I also understand the anguish and pain felt by many in the party. After fifty years …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 55 Comments
Mark Pack

The deal is done

By Mark Pack | Wed 12th May 2010 - 12:36 am

The deal negotiated with the Conservatives has been unanimously backed by the Liberal Democrat MPs. It’s also been backed by the party’s Federal Executive with just dissenting voice in the end. Both decisions were significantly helped by not only the successes of the party’s negotiating team but also by very impressive and persuasive appearances by Nick Clegg.

Talking shortly afterwards, Nick Clegg said,

I can your hopes and your aspirations with me … I want to assure you that I wouldn’t have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced that it offers a unique opportunity to deliver the kind of

…

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Posted in News | 59 Comments
Alex Foster

Coalition ahoy

By Alex Foster | Tue 11th May 2010 - 11:57 pm

News trickling in that the Conservatives have offered the Liberal Democrats a coalition. The Lib Dem parliamentary party and Federal Executives, without whom a coalition cannot be ratified, are currently meeting to consider it.

There’s even talk of an emergency Special Conference this weekend which will mean conference representatives across the country pricking their ears up.

But the rolling news media are considering it a done deal already.

Amongst the headlines are that Nick Clegg will serve as Deputy Prime Minister, Danny Alexander as Secretary of State for Scotland, along with three other Lib Dems in the cabinet and a further …

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Posted in General Election | Also tagged , , , and | 98 Comments
Stephen Tall

The New York Times lauds Nick Clegg’s “central role” in election race

By Stephen Tall | Thu 6th May 2010 - 11:35 am

One of the most amazing – and welcome – aspects of this election campaign has been how Nick Clegg has completely stolen the show, as Jonathan Freedland noted in his Guardian article yesterday. But it’s not just at home that ‘Cleggmania’ has been in evidence: the foreign press in particular have been fascinated by his rise without trace.

Here, for example, is how a major feature in the New York Times begins:

LIVERPOOL, England — Chris Garlick arrived a skeptic, but departed a convert.

“I think he’s refreshing,” Mr. Garlick said of Nick Clegg, the earnest, fresh-faced leader of the newly

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Posted in General Election and LibLink | Also tagged | 2 Comments
The Voice

Nick: “Today’s the day we can deliver fairness for Britain.”

By The Voice | Thu 6th May 2010 - 9:40 am

A ‘virtual’ Good Morning leaflet arrived in Lib Dem members’ email inboxes this morning from Nick Clegg:

Dear Friend,

Today’s the day we can deliver fairness for Britain.

But we need your help today to make it happen.

I know we’ve all worked so hard in this campaign already. You might already be out and about delivering “Good Morning” leaflets. If so – thank you!

But votes don’t count until they’re in the ballot box.

Everything you can do today will make a huge difference. Every door you can knock on or leaflet you can deliver will be vital.

And don’t forget to vote yourself!

Thank

…

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Posted in General Election | 1 Comment
NewsHound

LibLink: Jonathan Freedland – Trust me, I’m Nick Clegg: How the also-ran stole the show

By NewsHound | Wed 5th May 2010 - 2:10 pm

There’s a fascinating on-the-campaign-trail profile of Nick Clegg by Jonathan Freedland in today’s Guardian highlighting quite how extraordinary has been the Lib Dem leader’s breakthrough in the 2010 general election, completely outshining both Gordon Brown and David Cameron:

In little over three short weeks, Clegg has gone from a face barely recognised outside the Westminster village to a phenomenon. Where once his party had to beg for attention, he now has to fend off questions not just from a British press pack at last treating the Lib Dems with respect, but from CNN and a clutch of other foreign reporters, who

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Posted in General Election and LibLink | Also tagged | Leave a comment
The Voice

Nick launches “My personal guarantee”

By The Voice | Tue 4th May 2010 - 5:51 pm

Nick Clegg has just launched ‘My Personal Guarantee’, a pledge that will run in leaflets and newspaper advertisements ahead of polling day. Here’s what it says:

This is my personal guarantee that I will use all the support you give me on Thursday to deliver fairness in Britain.

“We need a fairer tax system. I will use your votes to cut taxes for those at the bottom and in the middle and close the loopholes for those at the top.

“We need to support our children. I will use your votes to ensure

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Posted in General Election | 1 Comment
The Voice

Paddy & Nick slam retired defence chiefs’ Lib Dem slurs

By The Voice | Tue 4th May 2010 - 1:45 pm

Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown united today in condemning three retired members of the defence establishment who have a letter published in today’s Times attempting to frighten voters away from voting Lib Dem with crude warnings what perils await Britain if the party gains power.

The letter has just three signatories: Peter Clarke, Sir Richard Dearlove, and Lord Guthrie. Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown issued a masterly put-down of the trio in the Times:

Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, the former Lib Dem leader who helped to draw up the party’s defence and national security policies, responded to today’s letter, saying:

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Posted in General Election | Also tagged and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

The LDV Bank Holiday Monday caption competition – the “Nick Clegg meets Tardis” edition

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 9:15 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader …


(Photo: Alex Folkes).

Here’s Nick Clegg campaigning with the Lib Dems’ Manchester Withington MP John Leech at a primary school – but what do you reckon Nick’s saying, or the kids (or John) are thinking?

The winner of our most recent caption competition, the “David Cameron sucks bitter lemon” edition – according to The Voice’s judging panel of one – was this one by Jen.

Posted in Caption Comp | Also tagged | 16 Comments
The Voice

LDVideo: “A liberal believes quite simply in fairness”

By The Voice | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 8:20 pm

Nick Clegg addressed CitizensUK in London this afternoon, an event designed to bring together organisations campaigning for enhanced civil society. Here’s an extract of what he said:

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Clegg makes bold pitch for northern working class

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 10:50 am

So reports The Times:

Nick Clegg mounted his most sustained assault on the Labour heartlands yesterday with a journey from Burnley to Redcar in which he pitched the Liberal Democrats as the party of the northern working class.

It was a bold thrust from a Westminster School old boy at the head of a party that has thrived in more prosperous parts, and he seemed to recognise the scale of the task as he made his appeal in a church in Burnley. “I understand that for some people it feels like almost a betrayal not to vote Labour but to start investing

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Posted in General Election | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

The YouGov poll which shows Nick Clegg won the third TV debate

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd May 2010 - 7:20 pm

An interesting snippet from today’s Sunday Times reporting the latest YouGov tracker poll conducted on Friday and Saturday among nearly 1,500 voters showed that “Nick Clegg narrowly won the debate overall”.

You won’t find the figures in the paper’s report (and I can’t find them on the YouGov site) but the Times’s Samuel Coates reports that Clegg was judged to have most impressed by 35% of voters, compared with 32% for David Cameron.

Separately the paper also reports that Clegg continues to enjoy high personal popularity ratings:

A YouGov poll of nearly 1,500 people shows that the Liberal Democrat’s

…

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Posted in Polls | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

Clegg in the (Lib Dem-supporting) Guardian: “We have taken Labour’s place in UK politics”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 1st May 2010 - 7:20 pm

Today’s Guardian carries an in-depth interview with Nick Clegg (it’s labelled ‘Exclusive’, which seems a rather optimistic boast during an election campaign when the Lib Dem leader gives interviews every day).

Much of what he says will be familiar to readers of his pamphlet, The Liberal Moment, in which Nick made clear that the Tories are our opponents, Labour our rivals. But it may come as a pleasurable surprise for those progressive voters still wavering between Labour and the Lib Dems.

Here are some of Clegg’s quotes:

On the Tories:

What is striking is despite all the blather from Cameron

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Posted in General Election | 10 Comments
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