Clegg’s challenge

NICK Clegg was in an invidious position when questioned yesterday over suggestions that he had struck a deal with his wife to stand down as Deputy Prime Minister after one term. To hint that there was even the tiniest element of truth to this claim would plunge both the coalition, and the Liberal Democrats, into turmoil.

That said, it would be presumptuous on Mr Clegg’s part to assume that he will be in his position to continue serving his country after the 2015 election.

It is, of course, up to the electorate to decide and the Lib Dem leader has to first survive some potentially tricky boundary changes in Sheffield.

And, if he is going to be in a position to influence the shape of the next government, then Mr Clegg, and his party, need to be far more progressive, particularly on economic matters. The main thrust of his main weekend speech to the party faithful was to highlight the policies that the Lib Dems had halted, or delayed. What is actually required is more emphasis on policies that will create jobs and narrow the North-South divide. Much was made yesterday of Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander’s pledge to employ more HMRC staff to clamp down on tax evasion – but it should be remembered that this approach is invariably made by finance ministers at times of political difficulty.

Furthermore, Mr Clegg’s renewed opposition to the lowering of the 50p tax bracket to encourage wealth creation is again symptomatic of a leader playing to his party rather than the country. For, while his desire to reduce taxes for the poor has already assisted many, how will people from low-income families gain job and career opportunities if Britain is closed for business?

In short, there needs to be a return to the pragmatism, co-operation and mutual understanding that formed the optimistic backdrop to the coalition’s creation in May 2010.