Cleggie on the radio

I wonder if the producer on Radio 4's Today realises how boring their continual attempts to trip up politicians rather than learn something from them are in radio interviews.

Thanks to the line of questioning which was all - tell us about how you were stabbed in the back by Cameron and your plans to return the favour - all we got was the usual pleading by Clegg to his own membership that look the good things are all Lib Dem in the world and all evil is Tory. ( There will be plenty, perhaps most the the weird sect that is the Lib Dems who believe all that guff, along with our joining the Euro and surrendering to a EU superstate being a good idea - but Radio 4 shouldn't be about them. )

Of course Clegg could have stood up to them and just told them where to get off, but these days he lacks the self confidence and strength of character to do that.

Perhaps that's the news after all ....

Clegg sacrifices the future of children to appease his Guardinista Lib Dem party members

Onto the bonfire go children's futures as that most selfish of parties insists their ideological hatreds are placed ahead of the good education of our children.

Clegg thinks he's being clever trying to save his job by making an issue out of stopping profit for free schools.

But what is he really saying ?

That schools should not be run efficiently, effectively and have parents choose them if they do. ( Which is what the profit motive ensures ).

Remember schools run for profit would have to achieve that by being run far better than other schools.

Here of course is the real objection of the selfish Guardian reader class, many of whom are employed in our education industry who prime objective seems to be employing and paying teachers well, rather than providing a good education.

The Unions and the left are scared to death that our children might be allowed a good education achieved without using the Stalinist approaches they approve of.

Choice is good - profit ensures that the choices are good.

The Lib Dems should hang their heads in shame for the nasty way they are sacrificing the futures of many children just because some of their own membership can't get its heads round basic ideas and facts.

Again the Lib Dems show why they are such an unpleasant political party of selfish people.

The Lib Dems are no longer the Alternative Vote

In some ways the tactical mistakes of the Lib Dems, having decided to go into Coalition, could be put down to experience - the lack of it.

The Lib Dem pitch, even before Lib Dems existed, was an alternative.

An alternative to what ? Their answer has been "what have you got?" ( with apologies to James Dean ).

This tactic has been part of their strategy of building up support from opposition.

The problem is they haven't adjusted to being in power.

They have instead continued to behave like the alternative opposition. Reform of the NHS ( needed lets not forget to save peoples lives - lives that will be lost if nothing is done due to rising govt debt and health inflation combined with falling productivity in our soviet era NHS ) ? The Lib Dems are there to say no to the things that might really help. Removing Labour ema bribe ? The Lib Dems insist on the sort of social engineering that only the Labour party really believes in - but helps them posture on TV. Reforming public services to make them more affordable and effective and help people ? The Lib Dems are stamping their little feet to say no - as after all most of their supporters and members have a selfish interest in this issue. ( Individuals on the left become fabulously wealthy in 'public service' and yet mention the word profit and the Guardianista sky falls in. )

They haven't been helped by their lack of discipline. The really damaging attacks on Nick Clegg were only possible after Lib Dem ministers and MPs prostituted themselves to go along with Ed Milibands anyone but Clegg #AV strategy.

What they have lacked is conviction and guts.

They could have campaigned on the things they achieved - for example lifting low paid people out of income tax. But instead the subliminal message has been were there to stop the evil Tories from being too beastly. If you spend your time badmouthing your partner then soon people stop listening to you and start forming an opinion about your character, and its not a good one.

The electorate don't respect this sort of behaviour.

Each time we have Paddy Ashdown, Vince Cable - or most damaging of all Chris Huhne on TV bad mouthing the Conservatives Lib Dem support drops, as the public judge them on character and find them lacking.

There are ideas from the Lib Dems that are worth listening to. There are arguments they could win in the Coalition - even by persuading us Conservatives that they are right ( a strong contrast to the presidential sofa cabinet style of the Labour years that wrecked the country ). But their demand for pounds of flesh and stopping "right wing (ie kitten murdering evil) ideas" is going to earn them nothing other than contempt from all sides.

The Lib Dems need to grow up - and they can start by not throwing all their toys out of the coalition pram over the next few days.

The start today of Paddy Ashdown doing what he does best does not suggest they are capable of this.

Update: Some advice for the Lib Dems from Iain Dale

If Red Ed wins - Nick Clegg's future is nailed to the Coalition mast

The bookies and punters are starting to say that Red Ed Miliband - son of the infamous marxist and brother of banana man may win with the Union vote.

If so Labour's approach to the Lib Dems will be clear. They will need to oust Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader. ( Banana man could have enticed him to coalition with Labour, but not the head banger Red Ed who wants blood to revenge the humiliation of his sponsor Gordon Brown at Clegg's hands. )

So the left will work at splitting the Lib Dems apart ( with Red Vince Cable, Simon "the straight choice" Hughes and when not delayed by the "rail timetable" Kennedy to play with it shouldn't be too hard. After all most Lib Dem activists are really horrified by the burden of being in power rather than the postcode opportunist politics they love as a hobby. )

The Conservative aim here should be to try to offer the Orange book liberal minority in the Lib Dems a new home.

One day Nick Clegg may yet be a Conservative minister.

Double dealing with the Lib Dems

Looks like the Lib Dems have been playing both sides, and that Lib Dem activists and Executive would rather the economy crashed and burned with all the misery it will cause then they're chances of getting on the public pay roll should suffer.

Maybe Nick Clegg can still pull it off - but I'm starting to think a cynical rainbow coalition of denial based on self interested may be more likely than a stable LibCon coalition.

There will be very real trouble if it does and the voters are denied the change they voted for....

A swipe at Nick Clegg's game show technique

34 mins in on Thursday's Newsnight.

So that's my 5 secs of fame used up.

Having said all that I think the 80% EU immigrant things mistake by Clegg is the biggest gaff of the debate.


PS Thanks to @jo_beckett, @CaitlinCornwall & @rogthornhill for pointing it out and @Clipso1 for remembering it.

Cameron wins the third debate

David Cameron has finally seem fully engaged ! He's a man on fire tonight.

David Cameron 9
Gordon Brown 7
Nick Clegg 4

Brown was better than last time for a debate that must have been hard to compose himself for. But the droning on and the failure to recognise his record have done for him.

Clegg is just trying to pull the same tricks we've seen twice before. The hand waving, the old party tag, the lets stop making political points - political point. The media room is apparently laughing at him each time he tries to pull it, and so is the country. Clegg has blown it and got no points across at all this week. ( He's also just a bit too orange tonight - perhaps the lighting isn't right for him, but his luminous tie doesn't help. )

Cameron fought much harder at the start and wasn't afraid top strike this time, and very effective it was too. Some very fast thinking by him - like turning the £20k tax threshold around to show that Labour think anyone who earns more than that as rich and ready to be taxed.

Also the pointing out that the state and the economy aren't the same thing scores good points.

I think you'll see Labour's slide stop, but the Lib Dem bubble has been burst.

Cameron is the only man who looks and sounds like a prime minister, and Brown has started questioning him as if he already is ! Clegg looks tired and exasperated.

Brown implicitly conceding defeat by talking about a Conservative government with Lib Dems. The BBC hates his neagtive message on his closing speech !

A clear win for David Cameron - and I hope the country also !

PS Bye bye Gordon.

The false dawn of Nick Clegg

I've just finished watching the various post debate TV shows and I have to agree with the headline consensus - Nick Clegg put on a good performance.

He was able to play his clearly planned attempts to make the audience his friend trick, and of course variations on the plague on both your houses traditional Lib Dem ploy.

Nick Clegg is clearly more of the used car salesman than either of the other two party leaders, and its clear he won the battle of style.

However, as always with the Lib Dems, the Achilles heal is substance.

Nick Clegg deployed the Lib Dems plans to sacrifice defence of the UK and its independent status by surrendering a capable nuclear deterrent. ( Though the adding St Petersberg to Moscow on the British Nuclear doctrine is a nice tough, but a clearly pre-scripted one that all Lib Dem spokespeople have been using for a few days. ) Lib Dems not - having nuclear weapons and a sufficient deterent aren't the same thing.

Lib Dems will moan that they aren't unilateralists - but I have yet to hear an alternative that meets the requirements of Trident which are to ensure your enemies of their inevitable nuclear destruction if they attack the UK with nuclear weapons. ( You can stop banging on about Astute class submarines with cruise missiles Lib Dems because by the time you create the necessary capability it will cost more not less. )

The Lib Dems are also very dishonest about the profile of the costs for a Trident replacement - which will be a small part of the defence budget over many years. - citing the overall cost as they do is very misleading (and you have to assume that they are trying to pull the wool over the public's eyes on this as its so blatant). If you think we need to cut back on defence then the obvious candidates are the RAF and the new carriers, but none come without consequence.

Lib Dems should remember that nuclear capable supersonic bombers come to the edge of UK airspace on a regular basis even now.

And then there's the deficit. Nick Clegg made some welcome noises about the full impact of Labour's financial road crash and debt disaster not being recognised by this campaign. However they then went on to shower spending pledges and give tax bribes without focus ( unlike the Conservatives NI ideas which are very focuses on jobs and growing the economy ).

The hope for the Lib Dems is that they won't get much scrutiny on their polices or the fact that in much of the country they try to run as a proxy Labour party. Here in Woking the Lib Dems are the ones who campaign for more spending all the time - though being the Lib Dems it doesn't stop them trying to claim they would tax less.

The question is will there be time and sufficient attention to get to the bottom of these issues, or will the superficial Lib Dem positions survive through lack of scrutiny ?

This should prove to be a false dawn for Nick Clegg, caused by his luck on being able to deploy short sound-bites without consequence. However it will make it harder for the Lib Dems to replace him after the general election, and that may be the lasting legacy.

Clegg's being a prat

A petition with 5% of a constituency to recall an MP ?

Typical Lib Dem proposal in that it is:

1) self serving - like those mindless manufactured rage leaflets they push through your door with their candidates pointing at hole in the road ( its just what your stir shamelessly 'local campaigner' false friend Lib Dem would love);
2) impractical. It would mean any political party or religious organisation could remove and MP at any point;
3) just about grabbing headlines for selfish Lib Dems, instead of contributing to the debate; and,
4) has no chance of being implemented ( the true test of a nutty Lib Dem policy ).

The major problem with the Lib Dems is they aren't known for who they really are....

A Fisk of Clegg

Right - I've just wasted an hour Fisking Nick Clegg's speech - however its what you would expect from him. The attached video gives you the idea, but if you want to the the actual words used follow the link
A Clockwork Clegg: A Fisk of Clegg



Update:

Tony Sharp wasn't impressed either - thinking its a knock of of Cameron's style.
Oddly Guido sounded supportive - maybe that's sarcasm or his support for the Irish Liberals kicking in.

PS Hat tip to Dizzy for the below from a youtube user called "not winning here" :

Nick Clegg speech out by £33 Billion !!

Just looking through Nick Clegg's speech offering ( not very good ).

Young Nick thinks that government spending of £600 billion equates to hourly spending of £18,000/ sec.

Clearly young Nick can't operate a calculator as the real figure is £19,013 / sec - assume 365.25 days per year ( its just maths Nick).

That add ups to more than £33billion per year of a mistake.

No wonder he's had problems adding up where his £20 billion tax diversion cuts are coming from.

Given his criticism of Conservative party policy documentation you'd think he'd at least check his figures would you ?

Still when your spending other peoples money who cares ? Not the Lib Dems.

The calculating deceit of the Lib Dems

For some of today - when not wondering about the end of the financial world as we know it - I gave a bit of thought to the Lib Dems apparent conversion to tax cuts.

Its going to make our life easier - and move the debate in our direction. Which is good. I don't actually think it will win them any votes as which party do you trust to deliver a smaller state, Conservative or Lib Dem ? ( Anyone answering Lib Dem is beyond help ).

But I hadn't been prepared for the deceit and trickery of Nick Clegg.

I've just listened to Newsnight as Jeremy Paxman tried to get him to explain where his GBP 20 billion tax cut was coming from. ( A hint: It made Charles Kennedy's defence of Lib Dem taxation policy before the 2005 election look lucid. )

But then just a little latter I heard him being interviewed for the Daily Politics and guess what ?
He's not proposing tax cuts at all !!!!! Its just to get headlines. What he's saying is he wants to divert money from Whitehall to the 'peoples priorities' and if any is left over then maybe a little of tax. Given the list of extra spending he mentioned I would expect taxes to have to rise.

They can't be trusted - but then I guess we all knew that.

Cleggover tries the "no memory of" ploy to deny having been a signed up Tory

A Clockwork Clegg: Clegg tries the "no memory of" ploy to deny having been a signed up Tory

Nick Clegg: The deceit and the conceit

Nick Clegg adopted Ming's ploy to deceive the British electorate by asking for a referendum on being a member of the EU.

It allows shallow Lib Dems (by no means all of them) to claim I want a referendum - just not the one which they promised ....

Nick Clegg was on Radio 4's Today programme this morning trying to call black white. He clearly learnt a little from his humiliation on Newsnight last night where the pure conceit of his position was laid out for him. He tried - and because he wasn't a Conservative - was allowed to talk out the time allocated. ( This was clearly his intention as at one point he even mentioned there's not much time left so let me explain .... Meaning if I talk long enough you won't have a chance to expose my rank hypocrisy any more ).

Newsnight gave him a rougher ride. Working on these lines - So the Lib Dems are being ordered to break their election promise and not vote one a proposal for a referendum on the EU Constitution ( which is what it really is ). That after the manifactured rage about not getting their own measure through - the only reason for which is the naked politics of trying to deceive their electorates that they "wanted a referendum".

The public can see this rank hypocrisy and deceit for what it is, and whilst some Lib Dems may not be able to break their word and will vote with the Conservatives today, the public have seen their party for what its is: dishonest, unreliable, hypocritical and deceitful.

It is also a party that's policies are dismantling the United Kingdom and handing its people over to an alien state where they will always be a small minority and from whom they may never recover their freedom.

In the short term Lib Dem MPs can expect to be rewarded not with 20 pieces of silver (the going rate for this sort of betrayal) but with P45s.

Update: Iain Dale watched Newsnight also and thought :

"I defy anyone to watch last night's Newsnight interview with Nick Clegg and tell me they think the Lib Dem position on an EU Referendum is anything other than a fiasco. Watch it for yourself HERE. It's about 15 minutes in."

Guido picks up on the discipline hole Nick Clegg has dug himself - there are shades of William Hague and his then leader of the house of Lords about this. In particular the elephant trap Paxo offered Clegg on if he'd asked for Lib Dem front bench resignations if they didn't refuse to vote as he told them to. Clegg's answer where evasive and paxman repeated the question to try to gain clarity. If in fact Clegg has asked for these letters then his credibility with his own MPs will have been destroyed by this interview.

Norfolk Blogger - whom Iain Dale quotes - deserves much credit for calling it the way he see's it - even though he's currently a Lib Dem. If more people interested in politics refused to be dragged along by party loyalty and spin when something that really matters comes up then perhaps the people's faith in politics could be restored. Well done Nich.

A Clockwork Clegg: Is there an English Lib Dem party - Nick Clegg says so !

Is there an English Lib Dem party - Nick Clegg says so !

Perhaps he just made a slip of the tongue, but also perhaps the Lib Dems are coming round to the idea of an English political identity - which surely leads to an English Parliament !

There may be hope. Iain Dale has been trying to persuade my party today - hopefully making some progress.

So MPs are to be chosen on racist grounds ?

Looks like a yes if your a Lib Dem .....

A Lib-Con pack BEFORE the next general election ?

The moves by Nick Clegg to suggest he is likely to support a minority Conservative administration may be more forced than he is letting on.

It may seem that he is just improving his negotiating hand with Gordon ( and he is ). After all if you have no alternative you're not going to negotiate a good deal.

But in may be that Nick Clegg's position is far weaker than is generally acknowledged since:

1) The general public have had enough of Labour and especially Gordon Brown.
2) The resurgent Conservative party is likely to decimate the current Lib Dem MPs.

Clegg may need a pact before an election to hold onto some of his MPs. Currently he can expect to lose at least half of them. Now were at the half way point in the parliament (roughly) he must be starting to think about a post election Lib Dem apocalypse.

Yes they want PR - but if they're all collecting their P45s then perhaps they won't have the hand to negotiate it with.

Hence the best time to negotiate is now - when your not too desperate.

Its just conjecture ... but we'll see...

Personally I don't think it would work as local Conservative associations who have been at the receiving end of the dubious electioneering tactics of the Lib Dems could well refuse orders from the centre to let them have a clear run.

The future of the Lib Dems - 4 party politics

The Lib Dems current leader (Nick Clegg in case things are changing to fast for you to keep up) says he wants to break two party politics and promises a bold strategy.

That's an interesting and revealing statement. It refers in part to the desire for his side to win. Let there be yellow MPs - more of them. We'll think about what they stand for later ( or better have some standing for one thing, others for another ).

It treats politics like football, where no one even pretends premiership clubs have any real local links - except that the punters who pay up are mostly local - because the players and management certainly aren't.

The Lib Dems, SDLP, LP + SDP etc have always complained about the electoral system. But still they act as the party of protest. Their most successful political strategy is really just an electoral tactic of vote for us or the other side will whom you hate more, will get in.

Being a party of protest and a proxy to get at Labour/The Conservatives is hardly a reason d'etre, and if Mr Clegg is to achieve his aim they will need one.

At this point I should point out that this puts the cart before the horse. Arguing for policies that will let your premiership political team win is like getting out your cheque book and buying success in the premiership. Its very cynical and suggest you believe or are convinced of nothing at all really.

That point aside, what does Nick Clegg need to do ? He needs further axes of political thought and to place his party at the end of some of them, not outflanked by either of the other two.

On this point - liberalism - offers a potential happy hunting ground. Liberal (ie right wing) economics and liberal social standards. Oddly they don't seem to go together.

Take a look at the following bit of fun MiaS found on the US elections (hat tip Conservative Home - have a go yourself here):
A similar axis exists for British Politics, top left to bottom right. The gaps are bottom left and top right.

However if Clegg goes for top right ( economic liberal and social liberal ) can he really take his party with him ? After all the SDP part of the Lib Dems is certainly to the left and used to be socially conservative.

Perhaps the Lib Dems real problem is that they are two parties trying to trade under one name. If that is true Nick Clegg will just bring disaster to them if he brings clarity.

And Clarity is needed to break the two party mould. Doesn't look good for Nick does it ?

Really he needs to establish 4 party politics - and split the Lib Dems up.

Lib Dems must end pick and mix politics

Their opponents have accused them of being the Janus Party for years. Saying different things to different parts of the country, even different streets. They have the reputation of being the least moral and most opportunitstc of campaigners. [ Its why eveyone else in politcs really hates them].Now even their own former head of media is telling them that saying they "must end pick and mix politics" - BBC's Newsnight 18 Dec 07.

Will Nick Clegg be any better ?

The Cleggoid wins

So another career politician who has done little else with their lives becomes leader of a British political party ( that's all three of the top parties now )

The Cleggoid says - "we want to change politics and change Britain".

That could have been said by any of the three leaders.

He'll have to do better than that ....


But even more important is the washing out of experience and breadth in British politics by the career paths available to those who tread them their whole lives.

Man in a Shed is starting to wonder about term limits ....

Update: The Cleggoid is officially from another planet. How can we tell ? Well he's just told the PM programme he's never heard of The Pogues "fairytale of New York" - which means he must have been off planet at the time, because everyone else did.