That Clegg Speech

By Ian Stewart

I listened to Clegg’s speech yesterday, trying to be as neutral as anyone can when in opposition.

There were certainly things to applaud – the AV Referendum, an elected House of Lords, attacks on bankers and New labour complicity – all worth a clap or two, and in the case of constitutional reform and civil liberties, damn fine stuff.

As he went on however, it became clear that this was no ordinary Lib Dem Leaders speech – no triangulation here. Nick made it clear that he regards Labour as his main enemy, with a number of statements that would have made Cameron proud. The live blog at New Statesman was agog…and full of vitriol (some from yours truly) in response.

But let’s take a deep breath…

Nick Clegg was hardly going to rip into his coalition partners was he? And maybe we should take some of his points on board – particularly on civil liberties. What defines the coalition so far is that it is not Labour, so expect more bashings to come. Our response however should be more constructive – we need to build support for the Yes to AV vote come May, and develop our own policies under a new leader. And on AV, we will have a leader who has already publicly backed voting reform, so let’s not waste an opportunity to change the political map of the UK.

In all dealings with Lib Dems and their supporters, we need to be calm and measured in our tone – not hysterically shouting about who deserted who. The only people to benefit from that would be the Tories.

I urge you all to get stuck in to campaigning for the Yes vote.