Clegg's Machinations @ No 10

"Pity we're not in Brighton." Arturo said. "Even all this rain wouldn't deter me from trotting down the jolly old prom to hear the latest examples of 'Wailing Lad' Clegg's machinations!"

And it is raining! It's pouring! The sky is black, the air is chill! The birds are shivering in the rose-garden! But Arturo is wrong about one thing. We don't have to be in Brighton in person. We can watch the horrors as they unfold on the tele! And horrors they sure are!

Our 'Wailing Lad' has wailed his apology to the students before our very eyes! Mark you, he had a good speech trainer! His words were almost - almost - the right ones - but not quite. His words were somehow 'hollow'. They smacked of the tones of a desperate man seeking to hold on to his position as Leader of the Liberal Democrats!

It seems that the whispering about a possible challenger for his role as head of the beleaguered party persuaded him to utter the words that must have stuck in his teeth: 'I'm sorry!'

Patrick Wintour writing in the Guardian under the headline 'Nick Clegg's much-mocked mea culpa shows he plans to remain as leader' stated:

Clegg is not apologising for breaking the pledge, but for making it in the first place. He also insisted, possibly unwisely, that the pledge "was made with the best of intentions".

The difficulty here is that the pledge given to the National Union of Students not to vote for any increase in tuition fees in the coming parliament was in truth a pretty grubby act designed to garner some student votes. Many senior party figures opposed it as such at the time.

So - 'Wailing Lad' is again running true to form. The 'pretty grubby act designed to garner some student votes' is not so dissimilar from the 'grubby' reasons for apologising now! He wants to stay in power!

Wintour continued:

Lofty words were spoken by Clegg at the manifesto launch on how every pledge, including the one to phase out tuition fees over six years, had been costed.

He said: "There is one other major innovation in this manifesto. We have scrutinised public spending line by line, and found the savings we need to pay for all of our priorities as Vince [Cable] explained …

"I believe this is the first time a political party has spelled out its figures, line by line, right there in its manifesto. Turn to page 100. The figures are there for everyone to see. We know how every policy will be paid for. These are promises you can trust …"

But on the BBC's Newsnight on Wednesday Cable said he had always been personally sceptical about the affordability of the pledge, adding that "it was an unwise commitment to have made".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/sep/20/nick-clegg-plans-to-remain-leader?intcmp=239

Of course, this does not reflect well on 'Invincible' Vince Cable and other senior LibDems either. If they knew the figures didn't add up - why on earth let the so-called 'pledge' go through? But then, this is politics! As Arturo said to me this morning: "You don't expect the Devil to take off his horns! Why expect a politician to act other than perfidiously?"

Very cynical but true!

Arturo and I are going to keep our paws dry! We'll be watching TV and munching anchovies!

'Bye'