It isn’t the forming of a coalition government with the Tories, it isn’t the reluctance to distinguish LibDem policy from Conservative, it isn’t even the endless banging on about the mutual trust he’s discovered in his relationship with Cameron. I’ve tried to see past Nick’s demographic likeness to Dave, and I accept the arguments about a new politics, plural progressivism and the necessity for compromise. I’ve even been quick to stand up for him in pub arguments, citing the policies he’s managed to get through – AV referendum, income tax threshold etc. – and berated those trying to take us back to an undemocratic two party system.
But the thing that finally pushed me over the edge wasn’t his support of the spending review, but the gleeful back-slapping of George Osborne that accompanied it. I understand that in a coalition it doesn’t pay to appear divisive and obstructive if decisions are made that aren’t a cosy fit with your own party’s views, but to be so visibly complicit with the Tories was hard to take. I know we’re in new political territory with this coalition but it seems to me that there’s a right and a wrong way to handle yourself. If Clegg chooses to greet these harmful and deeply unfair cuts with a smile and a “well done old boy” pat on the back, then I’m afraid I just can’t believe he’s on the side of the many anymore.
