THE IDENTITY of the Liberal Democrats has not been damaged by its alliance with the Conservatives, according to party leader Nick Clegg. The deputy prime minister was addressing party grassroots who are deeply worried by its dramatic fall in opinion poll ratings.
Declaring that the Liberal Democrats are “not on the left or not on the right”, Mr Clegg, in a speech to a party conference in Sheffield, said: “We are liberals and we own the centre ground of British politics.”
Repeating his often-derided image of “alarm clock Britain”, Mr Clegg said the Liberal Democrats were on the side of people who worked hard, believed in self-reliance “but who don’t want to live in a dog-eat-dog world”.
Conscious of the nervousness within the party about the impact of government membership on its fortunes, Mr Clegg said it could not have clung “on to the comfort blanket of opposition” after the general election last May.
“It would have been an abdication of responsibility,” he said. He listed the party’s achievements in power over the last 10 months – including tax cuts for the poorest, higher capital taxes, an inquiry into torture allegations and extra help for the poorest students.
He acknowledged that the Liberal Democrats had suffered from the public’s reaction to spending cuts. “Let’s be honest, after seven decades in opposition, 2010 was not the easiest time to return to government, but we have shown ourselves to be up to the task.
“We will not shrink from our responsibilities as a party of government. We will not flinch from taking the difficult decisions to put us [the UK] back on track.”
Throughout the weekend, delegate after delegate voiced fury about bankers’ bonuses and demanded that the UK’s major banks be split up, so that they were not “so large that they have to be saved if anything goes wrong”, as one put it.
The issue threatens a major row between the coalition partners once an independent report on the future of banking is published later this year, since it is clear that the Conservatives do not favour splitting retail and investment banking operations.
In his speech, Mr Clegg noted grassroots’ concerns that his decision to accept higher tuition fees for university students had badly damaged the party’s reputation with voters, despite having pledged to get rid of fees over six years before the general election.
The changes made, he said, would ensure that students paid back less in loans than they did now, while universities would have to “open up their doors” to poorer students if they wanted to charge others more than £6,000 a year.
Mr Clegg must also manage party discontent about plans to reform the National Health Service, although officials close to Mr Clegg said a conference vote demanding radical changes to the legislation “is not binding” on him.
The Lib Dems are now hoping that the upcoming referendum on May 5th on reforming the House of Commons election rules will motivate their support to back them on the referendum and in local elections in England and contests in Scotland and Wales.
