Nick Clegg defends deal with Tories
Updated on 20 September 2010
The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg defends his deal with the Conservatives - telling his party's annual conference that the coalition government will "govern well for the next five years". Political editor Gary Gibbon analyses the reaction from delegates.
Mr Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said "in life, two heads are usually better than one" - and in politics, "two parties acting together can be braver, fairer and bolder than one party acting alone".
After suffering embarrassment earlier when Lib Dem activists supported a motion condemning the government's schools policy, he said he had made the right choice in striking an agreement with David Cameron's party.
"Cynics expected us to back away. Instead, we confounded those who said that coalition government was impossible. We created a government which will govern and govern well for the next five years. "
Achievements
Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems could already claim some successes: scrapping income tax for low earners; ensuring ID cards will be "consigned to the history books"; introducing a levy on the banks; and bringing in a pupil premium, "so the children who need the most help get the most help".
By the time of the next election, Lib Dems would be able to say that much had been achieved "by a totally new way of doing politics"
He added: "Never again will anyone be able to frighten the voters by claiming that coalition government doesn’t work. Liberal, plural politics will feel natural; the sane response to a complex and fast-changing world. Just imagine how different our country will be."
Nick Clegg's speech: ending 65 years of waiting
The leader’s speech had grabby turns of phrase to get across a message Mr Clegg has been hammering home since he came to office, the accidental Deputy Prime Minister, writes Political Editor Gary Gibbon.
There was warm applause, especially for the attacks on Labour. No attacks on the Tories, warm words even for his old foe David Cameron who got to have a look at the speech before it was delivered.
Tories will have approved of Nick Clegg’s tough line on the deficit reduction plan – he even praised the coalition schools policy that his conference rejected this morning, even if he was riding to the rescue a little after the event.
Read more
Spending cuts
Mr Clegg moved on to the spending cuts that will be announced in the chancellor's comprehensive spending review next month - an issue that is exercising Lib Dem activists.
"I did not come into politics to make spending cuts. But it is the only choice if we want to steer Britain out of the economic mess Labour made.
"The spending review is about balance and responsibility, not slash and burn. Of course, I wish there was a pain-free alternative. Who wouldn't? But whatever Labour say now, there isn't one. Delay won't solve the problems - in fact, it would make them worse."
People were worried about a return to the 1980s, when unemployment soared, but Mr Clegg said this would not happen.
"Yes, it will be difficult, but it will not be like the 80s. We will not let that happen. We will make these cuts as fairly as possible."
"Promotion to the deputy premier league"
Just a year ago Nick Clegg caused not a little mirth among the handful of reporters sufficiently in trouble with their offices to be sent to the Lib Dems with a whimsical speech which included: "Let me tell you why I want to be Prime Minister," writes broadcaster Peter McHugh.
They smiled as he fantasised about a government with Vince Cable in charge of the treasury and promised "real change" rather than the fake version pledged by dreadful Dave of the Tories.
But of course that was before they secured promotion to the political premier league or, in Nick's case, the political deputy premier league.
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Building projects
In his only announcement, the deputy prime minister said councils would be given the right to borrow money for building projects from the income generated by locally-set business rates - "the first step to breathing life back into our greatest cities".
Turning to the coalition, he said: "Some say we shouldn't have gone into government at a time when spending had to be cut. We should have let the Conservatives take the blame. Waited on the sidelines, ready to reap the political rewards.
"Maybe that's what people expected from a party that has been in opposition for 65 years. People have got used to us being outsiders, against every government that's come along. Maybe we got used to it ourselves.
"But the door to the change we want was opened, for the first time in most of our lifetimes. Imagine if we had turned away. How could we ever again have asked the voters to take us seriously?"
No pact
Mr Clegg offered his party reassurance that he would not form a pre-election pact with the Tories when the parties next went to the polls.
"The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are and always will be separate parties, with distinct histories and different futures. But for this parliament we work together to fix the problems we face and put the country on a better path. This is the right government for right now."
He admitted the years ahead "will not be easy", adding: "But you do not get to choose the moment when the opportunity to shape your country comes your way. All you get to choose is what you do when it does."
Before his speech, he tried reaching out to disaffected Lib Dems, anxious about the direction in which they are being taken, by pledging a crackdown on tax cheats - a pledge he repeated in his speech.
But it is not just the rank and file that is asking questions. The Business Secretary Vince Cable has made it clear he has concerns about the government's cap on non-EU migrants hoping to work in Britain.
But, in an interview with Channel 4 News, Mr Cable brushed aside suggestions that he might resign from the coalition.
"A key point of Nick Clegg's speech this afternoon is precisely..that we are in this for the long-term," he said.
"We are committed to working within this government and making it work - and it is a long-term project.
"We don't expect quick results from the very difficult decisions we are having to make on the economic front - and I think having a five-year period gives certainty, stability to people wanting to make investments here. And the public know that we are in this for the long haul.
"We are committed to turning the country round. It is very important in restoring public as well as business confidence."
