Posts Tagged “nick clegg”
“It’s not the policy, it’s the pledge.” Ed Miliband joins the tuition fees U-turn Clegg club
by Stephen Tall on February 20, 2015
“It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up” originated with Watergate. There’s a British political equivalent now: “It’s not the policy, it’s the pledge”. First, it applied to the Lib Dems. My party’s infamous U-turn on fees has bedevilled Nick Clegg (…)
For Nick Clegg to stay, the Lib Dems need to “confound expectations”. What does that mean?
by Stephen Tall on February 10, 2015
What is the ‘Clegg threshold’? That’s a question I intended to touch on in my ConHome column today – looking at the prospect of a Lib-Con Coalition 2.0 – but didn’t manage to fit it in. Though I think it’s (…)
Liberal Heroes of the Week #83: Charlie Hebdo, #jesuischarlie
by Stephen Tall on January 9, 2015
Charlie Hebdo French satirical newspaper Reason: sticking up for the right of people everywhere to provoke, to stir, to offend Am I Charlie? On one level, almost certainly not. I wouldn’t have drawn the cartoons they drew: mockery of religion and deliberately offending others isn’t my thing. And if I had received a death threat […]
The One Where I Start Off Nice About Nick (then remember his decision to sack Vince)
by Stephen Tall on January 7, 2015
It’s Nick Clegg’s 48th birthday today, so I’m going to start off nicely. I like him, admire him, respect him. To have endured what he’s endured these past five years – a campaign of belittling vilification by the media which (…)
7 years on: 2 ‘myths’ about the Clegg-Huhne leadership race that persist
by Stephen Tall on December 18, 2014
It’s 7 years to the day since Nick Clegg was formally elected leader of the Lib Dems. Over at the Telegraph, professional Labour contrarian Dan Hodges has penned what I’d call a fair-minded piece (Clegg’s critics would call it a generous whitewash) (…)
Our worst nightmare? Peter Kellner’s scenario 3: “Lib Dems choose who’s the PM”
by Stephen Tall on December 16, 2014
Just over a year ago I wrote a piece titled Nightmare scenarios: what are the 2015 election results the Lib Dems, Tories and Labour most dread? In it, I argued that the trickiest prospect for the Lib Dems would be an evenly poised general election outcome in which the Lib Dems held the balance of […]
Two-party politics is dead: the Labservatives now trail the Other Parties
by Stephen Tall on December 9, 2014
The FT Data blog charts the decline of The Parties Formerly Known As The Two Main Parties: People in the UK are more likely to support a third party rather than vote Conservative or Labour in the general election next (…)
“This is not a snub. I thought it would be a nice change to get out of the Westminster bubble”: Clegg on his Autumn Statement absence
by Stephen Tall on December 4, 2014
Nick Clegg has taken my advice.* Back in July, I offered the Lib Dem leader five unsolicited pieces of advice. Most he’s ridden roughshod over: Vince Cable wasn’t appointed the party’s shadow chancellor for the next election, Jo Swinson wasn’t promoted to the cabinet, and (as far as I know) Nick continues to rule out […]
A fabulously passive-aggressive tweet-exchange between Jeremy Browne and Nick Clegg
by Stephen Tall on December 1, 2014
Relations between Jeremy Browne and Nick Clegg have not been happy since the Lib Dem leader removed him from his ministerial post. A few weeks ago he announced he was quitting parliament at the next election. When David Cameron paid (…)
How Lib Dems should talk about immigration
by Stephen Tall on November 22, 2014
This week saw the publication of an important report from the think-tank British Future called ‘How to talk about immigration’. Its central thrust is that the majority of the British public’s views about immigration are more moderate, pragmatic and nuanced than the polarising debate often allows: How to talk about immigration challenges both the pro […]
