Tom Richmond: Clegg can hope for gain after short-term pain

With the party’s poll ratings in freefall, and the Lib Dems a distant – and embarrassing – sixth in the Barnsley Central by-election, Clegg will have to use all his persuasive powers to implore his party to stay the course as the cuts are implemented.

The Sheffield Hallam MP simply needs to point out to activists that Britain would, inevitably, be facing another General Election by now if the Tories had attempted to govern on a minority basis.

I also wager that the result would be similar to last May’s outcome – the Tories and Labour as the largest parties, but with neither commanding sufficient support to win an outright majority. With their vote squeezed, the Lib Dems would still be in the invidious position of deciding which way to jump.

Having always sought the balance of power, the irony is that Clegg’s party, probably, does not need a referendum on electoral reform to achieve the influence that it has craved for so long – consensus politics is here to stay.

With Labour virtually guaranteed the public sector payroll vote, and the Tories shoring up the support of those who recognise that the country spent beyond its means, it is difficult to see how David Cameron and Ed Miliband can add to the support base of their respective parties. If the Tories can’t win an election after the deepest recession for a generation, and if Labour can’t hold on to power after lavishing record sums of money on the public sector, it is highly unlikely that either will break through nationally in the near future.

That is why the Lib Dems have to stick it out with the coalition – and hope the short-term pain can be converted into long-term gain with a pro-growth economic agenda that, genuinely, creates a new generation of jobs and a truly aspirational society.

HAVING used last autumn’s Scottish Liberal Democrat conference to hint at fuel concessions for rural areas, Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander used his party’s spring forum in Perth to announce a 5p duty reduction in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Yet it is not right that the Lib Dems use party conferences to announce these concessions when the cost of motoring remains so acute in the rest of the country, and particularly in the more remoter parts of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. The party’s approach to fuel discounts for rural Yorkshire will be of note this weekend.

I LIKED Nick Clegg’s one-word answer when Parliamentary time-waster Peter Bone (Tory) tabled a question asking whether the Deputy Prime Minister would “bring forward proposals to abolish his post”. “No,” was the succinct answer to this contemptible silly game.

THE Duke of York only has himself to blame for the series of misjudgments that continue to undermine his effectiveness as a trade ambassador.

It is very rare, indeed, for questions to be asked about Princess Anne’s many, many dealings on the international stage, and her relentless pursuit of both Britain’s interests and Save The Children’s humanitarian agenda.

DENIS MacShane, the Rotherham MP, is worried about Heathrow Airport – and the impression that it creates. “Arriving at terminals one or three at Heathrow is like arriving in a third-world slum – it is easier to get into Pakistan or North Korea. There are very surly, disagreeable officials and horrible 1970s collectivist architecture,” he said.

I’d be happier if there was a greater focus on ensuring that there are sufficient immigration and customs staff – my last forays through Leeds-Bradford Airport were memorable for the lack of officials in the arrivals hall checking the credentials of those landing in Yorkshire.

SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies has an interesting take on the proposed closures of Wrose, Denholme and Wilsden libraries in his constituency.

“If a Conservative-led Bradford Council could afford to keep those libraries open a few years ago, with the same grant as Bradford receives now from the Government, Labour-run Bradford council should be able to afford to do so, too.”

I agree.

WHEN Labour next attacks the coalition – and it will – over being “soft on crime”, I hope you will remember the remarks that were made this week by Sadiq Khan, the party’s justice spokesman.

In committing his party to reducing the number of criminals sent to jail, Khan says Labour’s “tough on crime” stance – led by Tony Blair and David Blunkett, the Sheffield MP – led to a soaring prison population and inadequate focus on measures to prevent re-offending.

I WAS somewhat surprised to see Chris Smith on television the other night speaking about the Environment Agency’s week-long exercise, including special drills in West Yorkshire, to ensure Britain is better prepared for the next major floods to hit these shores.

The Labour peer is evidently chairman of this quango. I’m not quite sure how he qualifies, given that he was in charge of the arts during his four-year stint in the Cabinet from 1997-2001.

FINALLY, how can Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, the human rights pressure group, ever be taken seriously again when she remains on the council of the London School of Economics – the tainted university that accepted a £1.5m “blood money” donation from Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif and a £2.2m contract with Libya to train its civil service?

Double standards is only the beginning...

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