Tuesday 17 September 2013

Insults were worth it, Clegg to say

Source BBC News@ tienganhvui.com


Nick CleggNick Clegg's speech will bring the conference to a close



The abuse Liberal Democrats have faced for governing with the Conservatives was all worth it, Nick Clegg is to say.


The Lib Dem leader will urge conference delegates in Glasgow later to be proud now it is "a party of government" and helping to turn Britain around.


He will repeat his attacks on both Labour and the Conservatives, saying the worst thing the UK could do would be to elect either of them in 2015.


And he will talk about his "private school, home counties" upbringing.


Aides to the deputy prime minister said it would be the first time he had used a set-piece speech to draw so personally on his own background.


'Finish the job'

The party has been keen to stress what it describes as the "confident mood" of the annual conference.


Mr Clegg's speech comes on the final day of the gathering, which has seen the party vote to back the government's economic programme.


"This recovery wouldn't be happening without us. We have made sure the deficit is being cut at the right pace," he is expected to say.


He will insist only a coalition government "can keep the country on the right path".


Following the party's decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives after the 2010 election, membership fell from 65,038 to 42,501.


It has since struggled in the polls, trailing in fourth place behind UKIP in some.


Mr Clegg will acknowledge that entering a coalition was not universally popular, saying: "Every insult we have had to endure since we entered government - every snipe, every bad headline, every blow to our support - that was all worth it, because we are turning Britain around."


The Lib Dem leader is open about going into the next general election looking not to win, but to form another coalition.


He is asking voters to support the party on the basis they would temper a "single-party government".


"Labour would wreck the recovery, the Conservatives would give us the wrong kind of recovery. Only the Liberal Democrats can finish the job and finish it in a way that is fair," he will say.


'Best start'

He will use the government announcement of free meals for the youngest pupils in England to draw a dividing line with his coalition partners.


Saying Lib Dems would extend the scheme to all primary school children, he will add: "Their priority is to help some families over others, with a tax break for married couples.


"That tells you everything you need to know about their values."


By contrast, he will say his party is helping "young children get the best possible start in life, and that tells you everything about ours".


The Lib Dem leadership have seen off challenges from activists to its nuclear weapons and economic policies, although delegates voted for a review of housing benefit rules - what critics call the "bedroom tax".





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