Saturday, February 9, 2008

FT interview with Clegg: LibDems could back Conservatives

Due to my self-denying ordinance, I missed this one on the tickertape machine when it came through:

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg last night offered to form a coalition with David Cameron after the next election.
Just two months into his leadership, Mr Clegg suggested his party would strike a deal with a minority Tory Government in the event of a hung parliament.
He set out conditions for power- sharing - including Mr Cameron committing to more "liberal" policies on civil liberties, the environment and reform of the public services.
Mr Clegg's bold overture marked a significant departure from his predecessors, who had entertained Lib-Lab pacts with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.


That's in the Mail. However, when you read further down, it seems less dramatic and, indeed, nothing new:

Mr Clegg, asked in an interview with the Financial Times whether he would back Mr Cameron's first Queen's Speech, said: "I don't care who produces a more liberal document for Government. If it is more liberal, then of course I would be interested to look at it."
He stressed that his party is "equidistant" between Labour and the Tories, and kept his options open by suggesting the LibDems could also prop up Gordon Brown for a fourth Labour term.


So, we seem to be back to "equidistance", after Ming's excursions into "Five tests for Gordon but none for Dave". A usual, the Tory press have made a meal out of a snack. The Financial Times summarises its own interview as follows:

Nick Clegg says his Liberal Democrats could support a minority Conservative government after the next election, if David Cameron proposes genuinely “liberal” reforms in areas such as civil liberties, public service reform and the environment.
The Lib Dem leader on Friday sets out conditions under which his party would back the first Queen’s Speech of a minority government if the next election produced a hung parliament.

...Although Mr Clegg told the Financial Times his party was “equidistant” between the two main parties, Lib Dem activists have always been more inclined towards Labour.
But Mr Clegg’s legislative shopping list is remarkably similar to the priorities identified by Mr Cameron’s team for his first Queen’s Speech. They include a focus on civil liberties, education reforms, the environment and more local decision-making.
Mr Clegg said: “I don’t care who produces a more liberal document for government. If it is more liberal then of course I would be interested to look at it.”

...However, Mr Clegg suspects the Tory leader’s offer of a “progressive alliance” is all talk and says Mr Cameron has yet to produce convincing policy proposals that would be acceptable to his party.
Many Lib Dems are hostile to the Tories and see Mr Cameron’s overtures as a trap. Mr Clegg insists he could equally well work with Labour if – like the Tories – they “became, to all intents and purposes, Liberal Democrats”.
Any working relationship between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives in a hung parliament would be likely to stop short of a full coalition, not least because Mr Cameron will not offer a change to the voting system.


There's more on the FT interview here.

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