Tom Richmond: Tebbit attack just a taster for Clegg in 2012

NORMAN Tebbit was succinct and to the point when he gave this forthright assessment of Nick Clegg’s end-of-year attacks on Eurosceptics, the House of Lords and super-rich bankers.

“I never imagined that under a Conservative Prime Minister we would have to put up with a Deputy Prime Minister who would begin to make John Prescott look good. Sadly that is the case today,” declared the old Tory bruiser (and peer).

And then, if that wasn’t bad enough, Prescott tried to offer a lesson in the workings of Whitehall, saying it would be Clegg – rather than, say, William Hague – who would run the country if David Cameron suffered any unexpected misfortune.

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Yet these personal attacks illustrate the pressure that the Coalition will come under in 2012. The Tory right-wing despises the Sheffield Hallam MP – hence why many were not present to ask listed questions to Clegg in the Commons before Christmas – while Labour, through Prescott and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, are determined to exploit the unease being felt by many within the Lib Dem ranks.

This is why the onus is on Clegg to start 2012 on the front foot – explaining to his Party the policy successes that they have achieved, encouraging them to hold their nerve during May’s difficult local elections and to reiterate, again, the need for co-ordinated political action to curb the deficit.

The opinion polls may not be to his Party’s advantage. Yet they are not forecasting a Labour landslide. Quite the opposite. With so many people unconvinced by the Labour’s alternative, largely because Ed Miliband does not have an economic plan yet, there is time for this to change and Clegg recognised this with his New Year address that focused on the economy.

However, it can only work if the Lib Dems remain united, show that they are team players – and demonstrate to the country that they intend to be active players in the Coalition until 2015.

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That does not mean they should criticise the Tories whenever possible. In many respects, this Government is still more united than any New Labour administration with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the aforementioned Prescott at the helm. But the place to air these differences is in the Cabinet – and not on the airwaves where Chris Huhne, the Climate Change Secretary, has been provoking needless arguments with Eurosceptics.

And before Tebbit wades in again, let me put this to him: surely Britain is better off with a multi-lingual Deputy Prime Minister, with a clear grasp of detail, than a number two who was hardly this country’s finest advertisement when in office?

WELL said Gregg McClymont. He may not be a household name yet, but he’s a politician to watch in 2012.

Why? Firstly, he’s the new Shadow Pensions Minister, a post previously held by Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves.

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Furthermore, he’s the man who has told Ed Miliband that he will face the same fate as Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock unless he avoids the “tax and spend” trap.

McClymont wrote: “A patriotic appeal to the nation to improve growth and living standards, not a simple defence of the public sector and public spending, is crucial to foiling Conservative attempts to render Labour the Party of a sectional minority.”

At last there is a Labour MP who understands the parlous state of the public finances.

SO much for the Government, and Labour for that matter, imploring private sector companies to take on more apprentices – while South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority looks to replace firefighters with young trainees on a measly £95 a week.

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It has been revealed in Parliament that no such people are employed by the House of Commons. What hypocrisy.

HERE’S a first – Michael Heseltine in agreement with Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s former Press secretary, who wrote on these pages on Wednesday that he won’t be watching Meryl Streep’s film portrayal of the one-time Prime Minister in The Iron Lady.

Heseltine, who resigned from Thatcher’s Cabinet in 1986, made this observation of Richard E Grant’s portrayal of him: “I gather he has dyed his hair, so even that isn’t genuine. As an historical event, no-one who made the film has talked to me and I therefore work on the assumption that it won’t be accurate.”

THERE’S no sign of any of next week’s above-inflation rail fare increase in Yorkshire being spent on improved customer service.

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Stuck on a train at Leeds on Wednesday morning, there was no explanation about the reasons for the delay. “A few minutes here and there won’t hurt anyone,” said the guard.

A fair point – but “a few minutes here and there” soon bring the network to a standstill and cause even greater inconvenience for all concerned.

A plea, therefore, to Transport Secretary Justine Greening – please sort out Northern Rail’s endemic culture of complacency in 2012, starting at the top.

A QUESTION. Where do you apply for a refund on your BBC licence fee in lieu of the absolute garbage screened over the festive period?

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The one programme that I did watch, The Royal Bodyguard, was so poor that I was one of the million people who switched off before the end credits rolled.

It might have starred Sir David Jason – but it was a pale shadow of Only Fools and Horses, or John Cleese’s slapstick humour in Fawlty Towers 30 years ago.

The only people that this non-comedy will have appealed to were those jobsworths in uniform who have an inflated opinion of their own self-importance.

I’m surprised Jason allowed himself – and his reputation – to be associated with this rubbish.