So forceful was Nick Clegg’s defence of the government at today’s PMQs that, by the end of the session, his voice had been reduced to an IDS-like croak. Deputising for David Cameron, who doesn’t return from the Gulf until later today, Clegg launched attack after attack on Labour. Asked by Harriet Harman, who stood in for Ed Miliband, why the Lib Dems had broken their election pledge to increase police numbers, Clegg thundered, “at least they can trust this side of the House with the economy!” When Harman replied that the public couldn’t trust his party on tuition fees, on childcare or on the police, Clegg, his voice rising with anger, exclaimed, “What about her promise of no more boom and bust? What happened to that one?” He added that while the government had reduced the deficit by a quarter and reformed welfare, Labour had merely “gone on a few marches”, “denied any responsibility” for the deficit, and failed to fill in its “blank sheet of paper”. Sat next to Clegg on the frontbench, George Osborne smiled with pleasure at the Deputy PM’s performance. Given the ferocity of his attacks on Labour, it’s becoming ever harder to see how Clegg could work with Miliband in the event of a hung parliament.
Earlier in the session, Harman had questioned Clegg on the Leveson inquiry in an attempt to drive a wedge between him and Cameron. While Clegg emphasised his commitment to “a free, raucous, independent press”, he added that “business as usual” was not acceptable. Provided that Leveson’s recommendations were “workable and proportionate”, Clegg said he would support them, a stance that leaves the door open to some form of statutory regulation.
A notable moment came when Tory MP Mark Reckless mischievously asked the Deputy PM whether he would be involved in choosing Britain’s next EU commissioner (it is often suggested that Clegg could resign as Lib Dem leader to take up the post when it falls vacant in 2013), to which Clegg, refusing to play dumb, replied: “I won’t be a candidate, however much he may hope otherwise”. It was, as far as I can recall, the first time that he had explicitly ruled himself out of the running.
Both Clegg and Harman also took the opportunity to congratulate Barack Obama on his re-election. After Clegg had done so, to cheers from Labour MPs, he presciently observed, “I suspect that’s the only point I will be cheered by the benches opposite.” Harman offered a spirited endorsement of Obama, noting that the US President had pledged to “create more jobs”, “provide healthcare for all” and tackle “the scourge of inequality”. Her message, in short, was “just like Labour!”
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