Clegg speech on ‘open society’ widens gap with Conservatives

Nick CLEGG is to step up his warning against Tory plans for tax breaks for married couples – accusing ministers of seeking a return to the 1950s.

In what will be seen as a bid to reinforce the Liberal Democrats’ position within the coalition following splits over the EU, the Deputy Prime Minister will use a speech to attack social conservatism.

Tory backbenchers are pressing for an election pledge to introduce transferable tax allowances worth up to £150 a year to be implemented within this parliament.

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The move, which was personally championed by Mr Cameron in the run-up to the election, survived into the coalition deal, though with a clause allowing the junior partner to sit out any Commons vote.

Mr Clegg will use a speech on the “open society” today to distance his party from the Tories on a range of social issues and will single out the marriage plans.

“We should not take a particular version of the family institution, such as the 1950s model of suit-wearing, bread-winning dad and aproned, home-making mother – and try and preserve it in aspic,” he will tell the Demos think-tank.

“That’s why open society liberals and big society conservatives will take a different view on a tax break for marriage.

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“We can all agree that strong relationships between parents are important, but not agree that the state should use the tax system to encourage a particular family form.

“Conservatives, by definition, tend to defend the status quo, embracing change reluctantly and often after the event.”

Mr Clegg will argue that liberal values are more important than ever as the world faces deep economic uncertainty and risks turning inwards.

“The danger in the UK is that the forces of reaction and retreat overwhelm our instinct for openness and optimism. That we succumb to fear – the greatest enemy of openness – in these dark economic times.”

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UK politics and economics is “distorted by unaccountable hoards of power, wealth and influence: media moguls; dodgy lobbyists corrupting our politics; irresponsible bankers taking us for a ride and then helping themselves to massive bonuses; boardrooms closed against the interests of shareholders and workers”.

Labour former prime minister Tony Blair was right, he will say, to argue that the “big difference is no longer between left and right, it is between open and closed”.

The Lib Dem leader will make clear that he considers David Cameron’s Big Society agenda to be “broadly compatible with the liberal concept of an open society.

But the Tories do not recognise that societies can be “oppressive” as well as the state and that power is better invested in individuals, he will add.

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Mr Clegg’s stance came under fire from the Centre for Social Justice think-tank, which was founded by now Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

Executive director Gavin Poole said: “Nick Clegg’s stance flies in the face of all the evidence, completely ignoring national and international data demonstrating how important marriage is to the health and well-being of children and families.

“Marriage is important because one in three couples who live together when a child is born split up before that child is five, compared to only one in 11 married couples.

“The Centre for Social Justice have repeatedly called for a tax break for marriage and an end to the couple penalty in the welfare system as a strong signal and vote of support in the institution and as a way of reversing decades of decline in our society.”

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Mr Clegg told the Sky News Murnaghan show that a tax break was not only philosophically objectionable but also unlikely to influence people’s decision whether to get married.

“Most people get married because they love each other not because they’ve looked at tax returns and seen that they are going to get some cash back from the state.

“We need to get away from the idea that there is something on a piece of paper that says if you are married that’s good and if you’re not married it’s not,” he said.

“At the end of the day, deciding to get married should be, in my view, something which is always regarded as a private decision. It isn’t really the business, philosophically from my point of view, to say ‘look here you are going to get £20 back, is that going to help you get married?’. I happen to think it wouldn’t make much difference to people’s decision anyway.”

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Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said: “Despite Nick Clegg’s attempt to spell out differences with the Tories, his actions tell a very different story.

“He has made an active choice to prop up a Tory-led Government which is hitting families harder than the banks through cuts which go too far, too fast, which has cut support for working families and which has increased VAT – costing a family with children £450 a year.

“Whether it is trebling tuition fees, taking a backseat in Europe or giving up on electoral reform, it is clear that the Lib Dems have sacrificed their liberal traditions.”

Poll boost for hardline Tories

David Cameron’s hardline stance over the eurozone treaty appeared to have secured a significant boost in public opinion as the Tories opened up a six-point poll lead over Labour.

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A survey, conducted as the political fallout from his use of the UK’s veto at the Brussels summit convulsed the coalition, put the premier’s party up two points with Labour dropping the same amount.

The 40 to 34 per cent gap is among the biggest since the immediate aftermath of the 2010 general election and marks the highest Tory approval rating for more than 18 months.

The Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 14 per cent in the ICM/Sunday Telegraph poll.