Clegg begins the long haul

NICK Clegg did not envisage coalition politics, and the economic responsibilities that this would entail, being easy. But, as the Liberal Democrat leader intimated at the start of his party conference address, he did not realise that the work of government would be this “tough”.

Both the Government, and the country, are in unchartered territory. The backdrop to this speech was public sector borrowing reaching new high, the escalation of the Eurozone’s debt crisis and suggestions that even more money might have to be printed by the Bank of England.

It was why Mr Clegg’s speech was more about political positioning – he could hardly talk up the country’s prospects when his colleague Vince Cable had suggested earlier in the week that Britain, and the rest of Europe, was approaching the economic equivalent of war.

This is presumably why Mr Clegg name-checked Ed Miliband and Ed Balls so frequently as criticised their economic legacy, while he opted not to mention the coalition’s boss, David Cameron, by name. The message was a subtle one; the Lib Dem leader was imploring his party, again, that they must remain committed to the coalition for the long haul because the Labour alternative is not a credible one.

Yet, while the Sheffield Hallam MP did enough to convince delegates that the Liberal Democrats do still have a future at the centre of British politics, he was circumspect on the main economic issue of the day – should the country put the deficit reduction plan to one side and spent its way out of trouble?

Neither option is palatable. The borrowing figures would suggest that there is no scope left for unbudgeted expenditure. The further downgrading of growth forecasts this week, however, would suggest that there is merit to a £5bn plan to bring forward key infrastructure projects, even though this report was strenuously denied by Mr Clegg’s colleague Danny Alexander, the Treasury Chief Secretary.

Either way, Mr Clegg’s first 500 days in office could be a foretaste of even harder decisions.

Politics doesn’t get much tougher than this, hence the need for the Lib Dem leader to ensure that the national interest comes first in the challenging weeks and months that lie ahead.