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Clegg's Serious Speech Designed to Calm LibDems
At a bar mitzvah, the father of the celebrant states, "Today, my son is a man" or words to that effect. Then, he goes on to praise his son's accomplishments, caution him on the seriousness of being a man, and then, he usually offers some advice that likely makes more sense to the youth 20 years later than it does on the day. The British Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg gave his party conference a similar speech yesterday. The Liberal Democrats have come of age, and it was his duty to remind them that their world has changed. On the whole, it was not a bad speech at all, nor was its reception.
Nick Clegg is not the best speaker in British politics, but he is good enough. The speech he gave was not a stemwinder on paper nor in delivery. What it was rather was a heart-to-heart to reassure those who were still upset about the coalition with the Tories, who don't yet realize that opposition is a different job than government, and who see the polls and wonder if there is a future for the party.
He began with a check-list of accomplishments of the government in its first four months.
Just think what we've done already. We've ended the injustice of the richest paying less tax on investments than the poorest do on their wages. We've guaranteed older people a decent increase in their pension. In November, we will publish a Freedom Bill to roll back a generation of illiberal and intrusive legislation. By Christmas, Identity Card laws will be consigned to the history books. From New Year's Day, the banks will pay a new levy that will help fill the black hole they helped create. On 1 April, 900,000 low earners will stop paying income tax altogether. In May, the people of Britain will get to choose their own voting system. And this time next year, there will be a pupil premium so the children who need the most help, get the most help.
That right there justifies all of the grief, the mocking from the press and Labour (a party still without a leader), and the self-doubt. After 65 years out of power, this is not a bad start to what could well be five years in office. The LibDems had a choice: to either accept power and responsibility, or reject it to stay ideologically pure and let the Tories have the day. Taking nearly 1 million poor off the tax rolls justifies it. Making the pension more generous justifies it. The great liberal and Liberal policy of defending civil liberties justifies it. Taken together, these accomplishments show that those who voted against the coalition made a mistake.
What truly worries everyone in the UK regardless of political persuasion is the effect of the coming Cuts. To fix the deficit while the economy remains wobbly is a reversal of pre-election Liberal Democratic views. Those who survived the Thatcher Cuts of the 1980s are justly concerned. Mr. Clegg addressed the unease directly:
We will not repeat the mistakes of the 1980s in which whole communities were hollowed out. I know from my constituents in Sheffield how worried people are that cuts will hurt the North in the way the industrial changes of the 1980s did. So let me say to everybody in those communities, in Scotland and in Wales, many of whose lives were torn apart. 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.
The Tories were going to slash spending no matter what. That's their reflex action. If Mr. Clegg and his party can ensure that the Cuts are as merciful as possible, that will be a Liberal effect. In the end, Mr. Clegg was right. The coalition is not pursuing the Liberal Democrat's manifesto, but neither is it pursuing the Conservative manifesto. Events suggest so far that this has been good for Britain.
© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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