Liberal Democrat Conference: 'Oil Price Could Double in Return to 1970s Style Shocks'
THE TELEGRAPH: Energy secretary Chris Huhne has ordered his officials to look at the impact of a 1970s-style oil price spike on the British economy.

Mr Huhne said the UK was having to prepare itself for “lots of shocks”, forcing the price of a barrel of oil to double, mirroring the volatility last seen in the 1970s.

The news came as Mr Huhne said he would only give the green light to more nuclear power stations if Chancellor George Osborne agreed to taking millions of the lowest paid out of income tax. “A deal is a deal,” he said.

Mr Huhne said he was concerned about the future fluctuations in the price of a barrel of oil, which would send the price of petrol soaring.

A 1970s-style doubling in the price of oil would drain £45billion from the UK economy in two years, hitting investment and jobs.

He told a meeting on the fringe of the party’s conference in Liverpool: “We will have a world where there may be lots of shocks, we may well have oil price rises which are similar to the ones that we had in the 1970s, a doubling.

“I have asked for some work to be done in the department about what the impact of that might be in terms of British business, businesses that have nothing to do with energy, with green growth, entirely outside.

“The corner shop is affected if we have an oil price shock because the economy is hit very seriously.” >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Liberal Democrat Conference: Nick Clegg Defends Coalition Cuts
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg has defended the coalition's policies amid criticism from activists over the impact of the impending spending cuts.

The Deputy Prime Minister denied that the Government "relished" having to impose tight budget reductions, but insisted there was "nothing fair" about forcing future generations to pay off the nation's debt.

He said the Government had restored the earnings link to pensioners and was reversing the "grotesque inequality" in the tax system.

But he was told the deep spending cuts to be outlined in next month's spending review would "disproportionately" affect the poorest in society.

Speaking to party members during a question-and-answer session at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, Mr Clegg said: "The fact of this deficit, which (Labour) created, you and I can't wish it away.

"You cannot build social justice on the sands of debt. It can't be done." >>> | Sunday, September 19, 2010

Nick Clegg Tells Lib Dems: Accept My Cameron Pact
THE GUARDIAN: As party gathers for annual conference, leader says he has been impressed by PM's pragmatism and flexibility

Nick Clegg has appealed to his party to embrace PM and Conservative leader David Cameron, above. Photograph: The Guardian
Nick Clegg tomorrow will launch a heartfelt appeal to Liberal Democrats to finally embrace David Cameron's centre-right party as he predicts that together they can become a "great, great reforming government". In terms that may deepen unease among Lib Dems unhappy with the coalition, Clegg uses an interview with the Observer to heap praise on Cameron as a "big politician" who fully understands how to share power.

As his party gathers in Liverpool for its annual conference, Clegg admits he was completely wrong to call Cameron a "fake" and a "con" during the election campaign and has been impressed by his pragmatism and flexibility. "He hasn't been dogmatic. He hasn't been doctrinaire," he says. "I think this government definitely has the capacity to be a great, great reforming government."

The Lib Dem leader's central message is that the coalition can only work if his own party accepts it is a full and willing participant that jointly "owns the government". The alternative, he says, is to operate in an atmosphere of "poison" as a competing faction "constantly trying to put little trophies on the mantelpiece to show we are winning victories".

He adds: "In fact the truth is much more radical than that. All the big decisions are jointly taken by David Cameron and myself … that is why I didn't want to have a department, why I am a hop and a skip from his office." >>> Toby Helm | Saturday, September 18, 2010

Simon Jenkins’ View: Through Coalition, Nick Clegg Chose Glory in Death
THE GUARDIAN: Nick Clegg's love affair has brought the Liberal Democrats short-term power. But longer term, the deal is a suicide note

Admit it, Clegg, you're in love. You rise each morning with that ache of uncertainty in your breast. You choose that tie, that suit, those shoes with him in mind. You scurry early to the office, practising the phrase that will please him, the gesture he will notice. When you first see him in the corridor … you can't help it. The knees go. He is adorable.

The trouble is, an angry wife and family are watching and waiting back home. This weekend, the Liberal Democrat conference will want to know exactly what has been going on between Nick Clegg and David Cameron these past five months. The party has been forgiving, so far, since Clegg has given its members a high profile, a tinge, a hint of real power. But for how much longer?

From his first storming election debate last April to his present high poll rating, Clegg has led the Liberal Democrats into high places and tempted them beyond their dreams. Assorted party wonkery about income tax thresholds, pupil premiums and electoral reform are suddenly taken seriously. They are in play.

Then there are the jobs. Nineteen out of 57 new MPs have government employment, five of them in the cabinet. No Lib Dem MP ever imagined they would experience such titles, salaries, cars and dispatch boxes. Despite having five fewer MPs than in the old parliament, Clegg has taken his followers where no Liberal since Lloyd George has dared to tread.

So much for the good news. The truth is that behind the razzmatazz Cameron's coalition agreement was a political coup worthy of Walpole. He bought himself a Commons majority for the duration of a parliament. He knew that joining a coalition would devastate the Liberal Democrats at the polls, so he hired enough MPs, bound hand and foot, to give himself safety. The MPs took the bait. Sooner or later, the Lib Dem backbenchers are certain to run for opposition cover, but for those who took jobs with Clegg and entered the coalition, the much-trumpeted "programme for government" last May was short-term glory but a longer-term suicide note. Read on and comment >>> Simon Jenkins | Thursday, September 16, 2010

Watch Guardian video: Nick Clegg's speech at the Liberal Democrat conference 2009: Highlights from the Liberal Democrat leader's keynote speech at the party conference in Bournemouth >>> John Domokos | Wednesday, September 23, 2009

THE GUARDIAN: Nick Clegg becomes a Tory poster boy: Nick Clegg is now more popular among Conservative supporters than Lib Dem ones. What explains this strange development? >>> Tom Clark | Thursday, September 16, 2010

'PM' Clegg Faces Voting Revolt
MAIL ONLINE: Nick Clegg faced a Coalition backlash last night as he prepared to become the first Liberal leader to run the country in more than 80 years.

The Deputy Prime Minister takes the reins of power today from David Cameron, who is on holiday in Cornwall.

But Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes immediately cast a shadow over the Coalition by categorically ruling out the prospect of any electoral pact with the Tories at the next election.

With the Government marking its first 100 days in power on Wednesday, Mr Hughes torpedoed the growing prospect of closer ties, publicly lecturing Mr Clegg about a non-aggression deal at the next election, which would see both parties tactically backing each other.

Mr Hughes denounced a deal as ‘a nonsense’ and said: ‘We will be standing in every seat in the next election, there will be no deals, there will be no pacts.

‘Nick knows that that’s the party’s position, and Nick knows that that’s the party’s constitution.’ Read on and comment >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Monday, August 16, 2010

La rigueur met les LibDems en position difficile
Le ministre des Finances conservateur, George Osborne, a annoncé des mesures drastiques. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le plan d'austérité présenté par le chef du gouvernement britannique fragilise sa coalition.

La politique de rigueur mise en place par le gouvernement de David Cameron provoque déjà des tensions au sein de la coalition organisée avec les libéraux-démocrates de Nick Clegg. Plusieurs députés LibDems protestent ouvertement contre les hausses d'impôts annoncées la semaine dernière par le ministre des Finances conservateur, George Osborne. Quatre d'entre eux sont même allés à l'encontre des consignes de leur parti, en proposant un amendement au budget qui rendrait inapplicable la hausse de la TVA de 17,5 % à 20 %, qui devrait avoir lieu en début d'année prochaine. Ces élus s'inquiètent de l'impact de la hausse de la TVA sur les foyers les plus modestes, et auraient préféré que les nouveaux impôts soient plus «progressistes », en faisant porter la facture sur les plus riches.

Le petit parti libéral-démocrate n'a décroché que 55 députés sur 650 sièges lors des dernières législatives, mais il est devenu un partenaire indispensable pour les conservateurs de David Cameron qui, avec 306 élus, étaient restés en deçà du seuil de la majorité absolue. Pendant toute la campagne, et lors des négociations de coalition avec les tories, le groupe de Nick Clegg a avancé un programme fiscal progressiste, insistant sur la nécessité de rendre les impôts «plus justes », en allégeant le fardeau des revenus modestes. La semaine dernière, le groupe d'analyse Institute for Fiscal Studies a commenté que la hausse de la TVA allait avoir un impact plus sensible pour les plus pauvres et a qualifié le budget de «plutôt réactionnaire ». >>> Par Cyrille Vanlerberghe | Mardi 29 Juin 2010

Don't Take Offence at Our Coalition. Its Aims Are Liberal
THE GUARDIAN: A Lib-Con deal was the only responsible choice. And our shared aim is to build a fairer society by a radical dispersal of power

The third runway at Heathrow has been cancelled. ID cards have been scrapped. There will be no more child detention. And reform is now under way to make taxes fair for millions of ordinary people.

These are some of the early achievements of a government that had its first cabinet meeting just two days ago. A new government but, more important, a new kind of government: plural, diverse; a Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition that defies the rules of old politics.

I know the birth of this coalition has caused much surprise, and, with it, some offence. There are those on both the left and right who are united in thinking this should not have happened. But the truth is this: there was no other responsible way to play the hand dealt to the political parties by the British people at the election. The parliamentary arithmetic made a Lib-Lab coalition unworkable, and it would have been regarded as illegitimate by the British people. Equally, a minority administration would have been too fragile to tackle the political and economic challenges ahead.

So, given that the people told us, explicitly, that they didn't want just one party in charge, we had a duty to find a way for more than one party to govern effectively. And we have.

That's the pragmatic analysis. But what I think has surprised all of us in the government this week is the strength of the agreement on principle, too. No government – whether it's a coalition of parties, or a coalition of rivalries as in the Blair-Brown governments – is able to survive without a core set of common assumptions and aspirations. >>> Nick Clegg | Friday, May 14, 2010

Tory, Labour and Lib-Dem Treason: All Three Back Turkey’s Entry into the EU
Image courtesy of the BNP
BNP: Conservative Shadow minister Michael Gove has been exposed as the influential guiding hand behind propaganda attempts to get Turkey admitted to the European Union - a move, which if successful, will see Europe utterly swamped by Muslims.

Mr Gove, who is Tory Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and MP for Surrey Heath, is one of a cross party group of patrons of a new magazine called Turkey In Europe launched last week at a reception at the Houses of Parliament.

According to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, the magazine was “launched on behalf of the patrons of Turkey in Europe who are Michael Gove MP, Dr Denis MacShane MP and Graham Watson MEP.”

Mr Macshane is from the Labour Party and Mr Watson is leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament.

The editor of the new magazine, Osman Streater, said that it “was established to bring international business together and to promote Turkish membership of the European Union,” according to Hurriyet. >>> BNP News | Thursday, May 21, 2009