Nick Clegg now claims that he sold out on deficit reduction before May 6th - despite going into the election committed to a deficit reduction plan closer to Labour than the Conservatives.
Following Mervyn King’s appearance at the Treasury select committee yesterday, in which he distanced himself from Nick Clegg’s claim that it was only after meeting him he had changed his mind on the deficit, the Liberal Democrat leader now claims that he sold out on deficit reduction before May 6th – despite going into the election committed to a deficit reduction plan closer to Labour than the Conservatives.
In the BBC2 documentary ‘Five days that changed Britain’, to be broadcast tonight at 9:00, he tells BBC political editor Nick Robinson:
“I changed my mind earlier than that [the Coaltion negotiations] … firstly remember between March and the actual general election … a financial earthquake occurred in on our European doorstep.”
When pressed on why he failed to tell the electorate of his conversion, he says:
“… to be fair we were all … reacting to very, very fast-moving economic events.”
Shadow chief secretary Liam Byrne this afternoon accused Clegg of “simply” misleading voters:
“This shows Nick Clegg simply misled voters. He’d clearly decided before the election that David Cameron was his partner of choice.”
On June 6th, Clegg was singing a very different tune in The Observer in an interview with Andrew Ransley, who wrote:
“It is on the economy that the Lib Dems have executed their greatest somersault since the election. Throughout the campaign they castigated the Tories as schoolboy fools for planning immediate spending cuts; now they have fallen in with the plan.
“‘Our view has shifted,’ accepts Clegg. ‘To be fair to us, it shifted because the world around us changed.’ He claims as his alibi ‘the complete belly-up implosion in Greece’, which made it imperative to demonstrate to the markets that the coalition would make an early start on deficit reduction.
“Another influence was ‘a long conversation a day or two after the government was formed’ with Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England. ‘He couldn’t have been more emphatic. He said: “If you don’t do this, then because of the deterioration of market conditions it will be even more painful to do it later.’”
Serious questions now need to be asked: if Clegg had changed his mind before the election on spending cuts, why did he not tell the electorate before polling day? The electorate deserved to know what they were voting for and he did not tell them this. His initial position was along the lines of ‘I changed my mind because of what the Governor told me’, King says he told him nothing and now Clegg claims to have made up his mind long before.
Just as with Forgemasters, however, his explanation may be a long time coming, if ever.
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28 Responses to “Now Clegg claims he changed mind on deficit before the election”
Anon E Mouse
Tommy – Real working class Labour family going back generations (Grandfather was a Union Rep and Labour councillor) but I won’t support deception and underhanded behaviour by whoever commits it. Have you read the Mandelson book?
Your critical point is not well made and whilst I appreciate it is just to illustrate a position the whole thing is daft – there is no connection between child support and capital punishment.
Prison and capital punishment would have been better. There is however a direct connection between voting issues and Parliament sizes. You are attempting Strawman on a narrow point in my opinion – typical left wing response to something you disagree with.
Finally Tommy I am not being snide about Harman’s education just pointing out she has the same schooling as Osborne yet Labour ran Tory Toff campaigns and I don’t like hypocrisy.
I notice you didn’t comment on her husband being forced on the local Labour Party and regarding the spelling mistake it was a name I have no reason to know the correct spelling of – it’s just a name.
On the other hand Tommy you have typed “excuses” as “exuses” and I do think you should perhaps improve your own spelling of commonly used nouns,dear.
Terry
yeah mouse
you didnt vote labour at the general election
so what did you vote
UKIP I suspect
Terry
Yes your a liar Mouse
he was elected by the membership of the Labour Party in the consituency
I know I voted in it
Terry
The 176 local Labour members voted in a postal ballot with the result due on Friday, February 26 2010
NOW GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT MOUSE
Anon E Mouse
Terry – So let me get this straight Terry. (I voted Independent btw, not UKIP).
At the meeting of the NEC to discuss the candidate, Harriet Harman, Dromey’s wife, equalities minister who was promoting the “all woman shortlists” was not there when the decision was made to parachute Dromey in.
You don’t find that strange at all Terry?
The NEC has “full delegatory authority to make decisions which cannot be overturned” so the local Labour Party had no right to overturn their decision – your vote was wasted – it’s a stitch up.
It must be because nobody would be stupid enough to vote for that trade union dinosaur.
I say you’re being used Terry (unless you’re still at school and pretending to be a grown up) if you voted for him and furthermore I don’t believe you did vote for him – why would you?
He has nothing to do with the local area and why those people who voted didn’t think it was odd that Simple Simon suddenly resigned yet STILL didn’t vote for Steve Bedser I do not know.
What worries me is that in the face of all the evidence you still support this useless man and seem to be denying the truth. Next you’ll be telling me there are Weapons Of Mass Destruction in Iraq…
Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMZnTNCQhvY&feature=youtube_gdata