THE OBSERVER: The Lib Dem leader will survive a backbench rebellion over tuition fees but his reputation is irreversibly changed
Once upon a time, long, long ago – well, six months ago – Nick Clegg gave a pre-election interview to the Observer in which he forecast "Greek-style" unrest on the streets of Britain if the next government tried to drive through policies for which it did not have a proper mandate. I thought at the time that this was over-the-top attention-seeking by a Lib Dem leader who was then struggling to make an impression on the consciousness of the nation. For this was before the leaders' TV debate which briefly transformed him into the messiah of a new politics.
I am now happy to admit that I was wrong and he was right. The government is facing street demonstrations with a Greek streak during which the protesters roar that they have been betrayed. What Nick Clegg didn't anticipate – where his crystal ball let him down – was that he would be the focus of the fury.
The student marches against the hike in tuition fees have seen violence done to a variety of targets: a police van trashed and windows smashed at Tory Towers. But it is about the Lib Dem leader that the protesters, the peaceful majority and the anarchic minority alike, are most venomous. The police have advised him to stop cycling for fear of his personal safety; excrement has been pushed through his letter box. The National Union of Students is hoping to mobilise its members in their greatest numbers to coincide with the Commons vote on the legislation this Thursday. The walls of Westminster will again reverberate to their chants, the least rude of which is: "Nick Clegg! Dick Head!" >>> Andrew Rawnsley | Sunday, December 05, 2010
