Net Migration Rose in Coalition's First Year Despite Pledge to Cut It
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Net migration rose in the first year following the election despite the Government’s pledge to cut the figure significantly.

Official figures show that the number of people coming to live in Britain for more than a year, minus those who moved abroad, stood at 250,000 in the year to June 2011. This represents a rise on the figure of 235,000 for the year to June 2010, just after the Coalition came to power.

Fewer people are emigrating while increasing numbers continue to settle here, in particular students from Commonwealth countries in Africa and on the Indian subcontinent.

The number of National Insurance numbers given to foreign-born workers rose by 11 per cent, which is likely to fuel fears that immigration is worsening unemployment figures.

Meanwhile the number of asylum seekers from troubled countries including Libya and Iran rose by 11 per cent and the number of people being deported fell sharply.

It also provides more evidence that ministers will struggle to fulfil their pledge to cut net migration to “tens of thousands” by 2015. » | Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor | Thursday, February 23, 2012

Rowan Williams Condemns 'Frightening' Coalition

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dr Rowan Williams will launch a sustained attack on the Coalition in the most outspoken political intervention by an Archbishop of Canterbury for a generation.

He warns that the public is gripped by “fear” over the Government’s reforms to education, the NHS and the benefits system and accuses David Cameron and Nick Clegg of forcing through “radical policies for which no one voted”.

Openly questioning the democratic legitimacy of the Coalition, the Archbishop dismisses the Prime Minister’s “Big Society” as a “painfully stale” slogan, and claims that it is “not enough” for ministers to blame Britain’s economic and social problems on the last Labour government.

The comments come in an article he has written as guest editor of this week’s New Statesman magazine.

His two-page critique, titled “The government needs to know how afraid people are”, is the most forthright political criticism by such a senior cleric since Robert Runcie enraged Margaret Thatcher with a series of attacks in the 1980s.

Lambeth Palace is braced for an angry response but Dr Williams, who became Archbishop of Canterbury nine years ago, is understood to believe that the moment is right for him to enter the political debate. Continue reading and comment » | Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Hizb ut-Tahrir: This Is Open Hostility to Islam
POLITIC.co.uk: Taji Mustafa, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain, rejects coalition's 'colonial' approach:

"This policy has nothing to do with security. It is about forcing a set of values on a community simply because their beliefs do not conform to secular liberal norms, and is proof that liberals can be supremacist.

"After bombing Afghanistan and Pakistan, does Mr Cameron still expect people to believe in the Blairite delusion that it is Islamic beliefs that are the cause of security threats to the UK? Most serious observers have abandoned this discredited world view, which continues to be propagated by some politicians, and self-serving think tanks and academics whose funding relies on such nonsense.

"This Conservative-Liberal government has decided to display an open hostility to Islam - threatening to cut funding to some groups - in order to impose Cameron's definition of 'British' values, and coercing Muslims to leave any Islamic values that the government labels 'extremist'. » | Tuesday, June 07, 2011

These Immigration Figures Should Give David Cameron Sleepless Nights

TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – NORMAN TEBBIT: The latest figures on immigration are a body blow to the Coalition. Many electors voted Conservative in the belief that David Cameron had the will and strength to cut immigration. It seems that he lacks one or the other, or both.

In The Spectator this week James Forsyth suggests that in the wake of the good results in the AV referendum and the local elections the Prime Minister may be becoming dangerously complacent about the next election. There is too much to be done for any complacency. We are more, not less under the thumb of Our Masters in Brussels and indeed our judicial masters in Brussels.

There is no sign of a repeal or even substantial amendments to NuLab’s grotesque Human Rights and Equality legislation. Ken Clarke’s out of touch and laid back attitude to crime has enraged a far wider constituency than those offended by his careless remarks about rape.

Now on top of all that come the latest figures showing the rising tide of foreigners, putting further strain on housing, schools, power, water and transport and health infrastructure. Last year the number of people coming into our country from overseas increased by almost 50 per cent. We are almost back to the record levels set by Blair. Fewer people are now leaving Britain and more and more are pouring in. Many are from central Europe, and to be fair they are mostly coming here to work, doing jobs declined by our native unemployed.

They, of course, need no visas or work permits and – short of leaving the EU – there is nothing that we can do about that. However, even where we are allowed to defend our own borders the Lib-Dem/Con Coalition granted 6 per cent more work permits than Mr Brown’s government did in its last year of office.

Belatedly, a cap on non-EU migrants was imposed last month, but the Coalition is still trying to bring Turkey into the EEC which would unleash a new uncontrolled wave of immigration. Ministers look on, but do nothing, as the Judiciary blocks the deportation of foreign criminals and blithely puts the interests of foreign law-breakers ahead of those of the law-abiding British. Nor has anything been done to stop the admission of asylum seekers on the grounds that they would be happier here than in their own countries. » | Norman Tebbit | Friday, May 27, 2011

My comment:

There was a time when one could count on the Conservatives to do the right thing. Alas, those days appear to be over. It is difficult to see much difference anymore between NuLabour, Liberals, or Conservatives. They're all a shabby, spineless lot. As for upholding all that is best about Britain, none of the politicians are willing to do it anymore.

Immigration has always been a hot-button issue. But no politician has the courage to deal with the ongoing problem for fear of sounding racist. But the fact is clear: immigration needs to be controlled and severely restricted. And it could be; but the will isn't there.

We should take a leaf out of the Swiss' book and set up a totally separate police department, a department that deals only with issues pertaining to immigrants. It would be a dedicated team, with a police station in all main towns.

In German-speaking Switzerland, it is known as the Fremdenpolizei. They deal only with issues relating to foreigners resident in the country; and they keep a close eye on them, ensuring that they are there legally, etc. The system works well. Why can't we have such a system in this country?

Further, if our companies need foreign workers, why can't we move over to a guest worker system? Guest workers can come here for a specified time, often times extendable. But when they are no longer required, they go home. That way, our companies' needs for workers are met. But the system doesn't have long-term consequences for the nation. – © Mark

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Centre for Social Justice: David Cameron Has Broken Pledge to Support Family Values
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron’s Coalition has failed to support marriage, unfairly penalised middle-class parents and done “almost nothing” to address the breakdown of families, according to a think tank founded by Iain Duncan Smith.

In opposition, Mr Cameron promised to make Britain “the most family-friendly country in Europe” and tackle the social problems arising from break-ups.

But in an audit of the Coalition’s first year in office, the Centre for Social Justice, which was set up by the Work and Pensions Secretary, said little had been done to support marriage and strongly criticised plans to cut child benefit for middle-class parents.

Marking the Coalition’s performance on family policy at just two out of 10, the centre concluded that the deal with the Liberal Democrats had seen family-friendly plans being watered down.

“Compromise to avoid difficult family policy decisions means it’s just business as usual,” the report said. The Coalition’s family policy was “a disappointing continuation of the last government’s failed approach”.

Gavin Poole, the centre’s chief executive, accused the Coalition of “compromise-driven inaction in tackling our devastating culture of family breakdown”. » | James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Monday, May 09, 2011

Nasty War of Words over AV in the Coalition
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: David Cameron was branded a ‘toffee-nosed slimebag’ by a senior Liberal Democrat peer yesterday as recriminations over Nick Clegg’s shattering referendum defeat threatened to wreck the Coalition.

The Prime Minister found himself in a Coalition tug-of-war as angry Lib Dems called on him to scrap NHS reforms to make up for Mr Clegg’s failed bid to axe Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system.

Tory Right-wingers hit back by warning Mr Cameron will face a revolt from his grassroots if he made concessions to save the Deputy Premier.

The war of words came as The Mail on Sunday’s ‘referendum map’ showed that outside the bastions of elite university towns and the London liberal elite, virtually every region of Britain voted against the Alternative Vote.

The torrent of abuse at Mr Cameron was led by Lib Dem Lord Tony Greaves. ‘A lot of people in our party never liked Cameron,’ he said. ‘He is seen as a toffee-nosed slimebag, which is what he is. That is being polite to the man.’ The day an angry Lib Dem peer called Cameron 'a toffee-nosed slimebag'... and the people of Britain held the liberal elite to ridicule » | Simon Walters and Brendan Carlin | Sunday, May 08, 2011

Nick Clegg Interview: A Year in the Eye of the Storm
THE OBSERVER: From darling of the TV debates to villain of the tuition fees protests, the deputy PM Nick Clegg has had a year of extraordinarily mixed fortunes. Days before the crucial AV vote, he reflects on his punishing first year in office and opens up about life in the coalition, the impact on his family… and having a sneaky fag in the garden

We are talking in his capacious Whitehall quarters with its fine view over St James's Park, and I pop a fairly obvious question: has he enjoyed the last year? Up until this point, Nick Clegg has been as candid, good-humoured and relaxed as it is reasonable to expect from a frontline politician under great pressure. In fact, he has been bouncy. But now the sun disappears behind the low cloud of wariness that scuds across his face. His reply is cagey: "I'm not sure whether to take up your invitation to provide a kind of enjoyment monitor."

He smells a trap. If he responds that it has been a thrill to be the first Liberal in many, many decades to be entitled deputy prime minister, then he will expose himself to the accusation that he is on a power frolic while thousands of voters are suffering the effects of spending cuts, tax rises and job losses. If he says that he hasn't enjoyed it, then he will feed the rumours that he has often been depressed by the onslaught on him.

In the end, though, he can't leave the question alone and comes back to it without prompting: "Enjoyment? Some parts more than others."

In the positive column: "Do I get up every morning and ask: am I doing the things that I believe in and am I doing them for the best possible motives? Yes. Unambiguously yes."

In the negative column, he has been pounded by "a barrage of criticism". It is not David Cameron who has been burnt in effigy by protesting students. It is not George Osborne who has had dog shit poured through his letterbox. It is not William Hague who gets sworn at when he takes to the streets of his constituency. For opponents of the coalition, it is Nick Clegg who is the magnet for loathing. That has got to be tough for a politician who liked it when he was liked.

Many politicians before him have travelled this trajectory from the fresh face enjoying the cheers of the crowd to the battle-bloodied leader who can no longer hope to be loved and must instead aim to gradually win respect for his resilience. Yes, it is a road well travelled. But rarely at such speed. A process that normally takes years – about six if you think of Tony Blair – has in the case of Clegg been compressed into months.

His very existence as deputy prime minister is a daily reminder to the Conservatives and their tribalist mouthpieces in the media that the Tories failed to achieve a clear election win, even against an opponent as unpopular as Gordon Brown. For many on the left, Clegg is the great betrayer who sold out when he contracted his shotgun marriage with David Cameron. » | Andrew Rawnsley | Sunday, May 01, 2011

Janet Daley: Cameron Is Taking Us Back to the Feudal
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The party appears to have returned to the old model of gentry-led Conservatism , says Janet Daley.

There is an election coming. So the Prime Minister is touring the country trying to persuade Conservative voters in various states of disgruntlement and suspicion that they should support the party. He is hitting a number of refrains that are calculated to have that effect: we are doing what you know in your hearts needs to be done to the economy. We are bravely reforming welfare, education and health (whoops, no – maybe not health). And, rather startlingly, we are cracking down on immigration – or at least we are prepared to acknowledge that you have legitimate concerns about immigration.

But even in the midst of these various strands of more-or-less persuasive appeal there is an odd kind of vacuum – a hole where the central theme should be. The Conservatives may be doing quite a few things of which their supporters approve, most notably taking on what had seemed the intractable problems of welfare dependency and collapsing educational standards. But if people choose to vote Tory now it will be more a consequence of what the party seems to be getting done from one day to the next, than of what it is in itself. There is no longer a clear sense of basic common purpose – of fundamental driving principle – at the heart of Conservatism. Who the party speaks for, and what it stands for, is a matter of confusion and contradiction. This is not, as some apologists might claim, a simple re-assertion of pragmatism over ideology. Pragmatism is the doctrine of do-what-works but what counts as working is established on the basis of values: governments can only know when they have achieved something worthwhile if they have an idea of what is worth achieving.

If you are between the ages of, say, 30 and 45, you probably thought you had a fairly clear conception of what you were supporting when you voted for the Tories (or of what you hated when you voted against them). Since the 1980s, Conservatism had stood for free-market economics and self-improvement: the party had come to represent the striving, sometimes vulgar but always determined and hard-working, upwardly mobile classes. This provoked a revulsion on both the Left and the more traditional Right which was as much to do with snobbery as it was with political beliefs. Margaret Thatcher was dismissed as a “greengrocer’s daughter”, and her philosophy derided as “bourgeois triumphalism”. The Tory party had cast itself as the voice of the most productive, creative, energetic – and unfashionable – people in the country. Read on and comment » | Janet Daley | Saturday, April 16, 2011

My comment:

Nothing will ever change in this country, since snobbery is written in the Brits’ DNA. The class system is perpetuated by the monarchy, which, while its pageantry is charming and delightful to watch, its effect on society is toxic. Little people who think they are big simply because daddy was very rich and mummy was a lady-in-waiting! It’s a case of the best ‘jobs for the boys,’ and university places in the best universities, especially Oxbridge, are reserved for the aristocracy.

I used to feel very pro-monarchy and pro-establishment until I had a rude awakening and discovered what the establishment of this country was truly like.

To call this country a democracy is a joke indeed. This country is a plutocratic aristocracy. Closed to all that weren’t born in the right circles, scornful of achievement, and distrustful of true academic success. (The aristocracy, traditionally, never had to work for doctorates and higher degrees, because they had their status from birth.)

Until this country can be turned into a true meritocracy, there will never be true advancement, and the country will always be held back and chained to its feudal past.

Other successful countries in Europe cast off the spell of aristocracy long ago, and they embarked on the bourgeoisification of their countries, thereby shrinking the lower class and upper class, and giving everyone a fair chance in life by including them in the middle class. Not so, this country. In this country, successive governments have deliberately not embarked on bourgeoisification: the Labour Party wanted to keep the working classes down so as to keep them all in power; the Conservative Party wanted to keep the working classes down, too. That way they could hold on to the reins of power, and maintain a good, solid supply of cheap labour for the overlords.

This Coalition government, headed by the Caminicks, is run by the snobs for the snobs. They couldn’t give a damn about the ‘little people.’ If one hasn’t got gazillions, preferably inherited gazillions of course, then one doesn’t belong in their midst. It’s a public school, old-boy network. They’ll get ever richer, despite the austere times, but God help the rest of us! – © Mark

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Gaddafi Winning Ground War, Coalition Battles On

Labour Turn on Clegg's Aside to Cameron
THE INDEPENDENT: The Labour Party last night threatened to pull the plug on three-way televised debates at the next General Election after Nick Clegg was inadvertently recorded telling David Cameron that the pair “won’t find anything to bloody disagree on”.

Mr Clegg had been taking part in a post-budget question and answer session with the Prime Minister in Nottingham which ended with the two men being asked where they would be in 2015.

Mr Cameron joked that they’d probably be having election TV leaders’ debates but that this time it might be “a bit better natured between the two of us.”

But as the two men then walked off the stage Mr Clegg forgot he had his microphone on and was recorded saying to Mr Cameron as they left the room: “If we keep doing this we won’t find anything to bloody disagree on in the bloody TV debates.” » | Oliver Wright | Thursday, March 24, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – VIDEO: Nick Clegg's unguarded comment caught on camera: Nick Clegg has been left red-faced after the Deputy Prime Minister's quip about his closeness to David Cameron was caught on a TV microphone. » | Thursday, March 24, 2011

Looking Back! The UK's Coalition Challenge

Inside Story - Ruling the UK

Gay 'Marriages' to Be Allowed in Church
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ministers are proposing to change the law to allow homosexual couples to "marry" in traditional religious ceremonies – including in church.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister, is expected shortly to outline firm plans to lift the current ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship.

In a political "win" for Nick Clegg and his party, the Coalition will also say that such ceremonies should for the first time be allowed to have a religious element, such as hymn-singing and readings from the Bible.
They could, it is understood, also be carried out in the future [out] by priests or other religious figures.

The landmark move will please equality campaigners but is likely to prompt a fierce backlash from mainstream Christian leaders, as well as some Right-leaning Tories.

The Church of England has already pledged not to allow any of its buildings to be used for civil partnership ceremonies, while last year Pope Benedict said same-sex marriage was among the "most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good."

Some faiths, however – including the Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Jews – support the change in the law and will apply for their buildings to host same-sex "marriage" ceremonies. Read on and comment >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, February 12, 2011

Banks Given Go-ahead to Pay Unlimited Bonuses
THE GUARDIAN: Ministers cave in to City and reject calls to tackle highest earners as No 10 seeks face-saving deal

Britain's banks were given the go-ahead tonight to pay unlimited bonuses, drawing to a close a two-year political battle to rein in the City.

After months in which a series of government ministers of all parties have threatened a toughening in the stance over City bonuses, Downing Street said the government did not intend to intervene in the pay of the UK's top bankers.

Ministers are instead hoping for a face-saving deal in which the banks agree to lending targets and improve the way they disclose their pay deals. One of the options being discussed is releasing information on the five highest paid individuals at each bank.

"We've made a broad statement which is about the need to see some restraint and some responsibility from the banks, but we are not going to set bonus pools for individual banks," the prime minister's spokesman said. >>> Patrick Wintour, Jill Treanor and Allegra Stratton | Monday, January 10, 2011

THE INDEPENDENT: Tough talk on bank bonuses comes to nought: The Government owns 83 per cent of RBS. So why does it claim to be powerless to halt another round of enormous bank bonuses? >>> James Moore, Deputy Business Editor | Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Welfare Bill Soars as Coalition Counts Cost of Austerity Drive
THE GUARDIAN: Slowdown in economic growth makes reducing deficit harder, says Office for Budget Responsibility

Rising unemployment will cost the government £1.5bn more than expected in welfare benefits, according to official forecasts that reveal the hidden cost of the coalition's austerity drive.

As big increases in VAT are due to bite from Tuesday, analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows slowing economic growth will make it harder to reduce the deficit by forcing more people to seek state support.

The Treasury watchdog calculates the government will have to pay out £700m more in unemployment benefit than previously forecast. Similarly, a higher number claiming jobseeker's allowance as well as falling into lower wage brackets will see the government needing to pay out another £700m more in housing assistance over the next four years.

Though the OBR data, released last month, confirms the government is still making substantial savings from its changes to both benefits, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the OBR's fresh assessment suggested it was government strategy that was leaving these higher numbers exposed.

He said: "The growing cost of the risk the government is running with the economic recovery is now emerging. The result of policies which undermine growth and jobs is a longer dole queue and a higher welfare bill." >>> Allegra Stratton and Julia Kollewe | Sunday, January 02, 2011

Vince Cable: I Could Bring Down the Government
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable has privately threatened to “bring the Government down” if he is “pushed too far” during fractious discussions with his Conservative colleagues, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.


The Business Secretary also claims that David Cameron will seek to scrap or reduce the winter fuel allowance paid to pensioners from next year.

He believes that policies are being rushed through by the Conservatives and that ministers should be “putting a brake on” some proposals, which are in “danger of getting out of control”. Mr Cable says that, behind the scenes, the Tories and Liberal Democrats are fighting a “constant battle”, including over tax proposals. Likening the conflict to a war, he says he can always use the “nuclear option” of resignation. His departure from the Government would spell the end of the Coalition, he claims.

The disclosures emerged in a secret recording of a conversation Mr Cable had with two reporters from The Daily Telegraph posing as Lib Dem voters in his constituency.

They provide the first concrete evidence of the level of distrust and infighting taking place within the Coalition. His comments indicate that the public professions of support between the parties may not be a true reflection of what is occurring in Cabinet. Mr Cable has appeared uncomfortable in the Coalition and his comments will lead to speculation that he could be the first high-­profile member of the Government to quit.

Following divisions within the Lib Dems over the raising of tuition fees, this newspaper has begun an investigation into the party’s true feelings towards the Coalition and it discloses widespread unease. >>> Holly Watt, Robert Winnett and Heidi Blake | Monday, December 20, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – BENEDICT BROGAN: No one in the Coalition will trust Vince Cable now >>> Benedict Brogan | Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Britain’s Most Hated Politician – Nick Clegg – Is a Man of Judgment and Courage
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Three decades ago, Norman Tebbit was the most hated man in Britain. In the eyes of his opponents, Tebbit was held to represent everything that was brutal, vicious and disgusting about the Thatcher government.

Thirty years on, British politics has at last produced a comparable villain. It is not David Cameron. Nor, astonishingly, has George Osborne been singled out for special opprobrium, despite his patrician sneer and trust fund. Local government minister Eric Pickles more or less put in a written application for the post of Coalition bully-boy, but remains a nationally popular figure.

Instead nice, gentle Nick Clegg has secured the position of Britain’s most hated man. He has been burnt in effigy by student rioters. Police have told him that he must no longer cycle to work for fear of physical attack. Excrement has been shoved through the letter box of his Sheffield constituency home, from which his family may now have to move for safety reasons.

Nor is that all. Clegg’s decision last May to join forces with Cameron is starting to look to some like an historic mistake. Inside the House of Commons, a division is beginning to open between Coalition Lib Dems and the back benches. To those with a sense of history this is very dangerous indeed – because this is exactly what happened the last time the Conservative Party and the Liberals entered a grand coalition, at the end of the First World War. By 1922, David Lloyd George had become a leader without a party, and the Liberals were fatally split.

History may be repeating itself. Lib Dem ministers love being in office, but appear remote as a result. On the back benches there is deep unhappiness and everywhere a chronic lack of conviction, epitomised by the astonishing inability of Vince Cable to state which way he will vote on government proposals to raise tuition fees to £9,000, a measure for which he is personally responsible. >>> Peter Oborne | Thursday, December 02, 2010

A Bright Future for Pinky & Perky!
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats should continue after the next election and could lead to a permanent merger, according to Sir John Major.

The former Conservative prime minister said the Coalition could represent a “realignment” of politics and the two parties should “prolong” their co-operation beyond this parliament.

Sir John’s intervention will ignite a political debate about the future of Britain’s current party system. David Cameron has insisted that his deal with Nick Clegg’s party is a one-off arrangement and he will seek to form an all-Tory government after the next election, due in 2015.

But Sir John raised the prospect of the Coalition being maintained in the next parliament as the best way to implement long-term reforms. John Major: let's keep the Coalition after the next election >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Friday, November 26, 2010

David Cameron and Nick Clegg - A Love Story

Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (Official Music Video) >>>

Dutch Coalition Agreement - But What's In It for Wilders?
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The Qur'an will not be banned, headscarves will not be taxed, and Muslims will not be deported en masse. Geert Wilders did not get everything he wanted in the coalition agreement between the conservative VVD and the Christian Democrats, propped up by own Freedom Party.

So what did Mr Wilders get in return for supporting this minority cabinet? These are the main PVV points: >>> John Tyler | Thursday, September 30, 2010

REUTERS: Dutch government pact cuts budget, bans burqa: Two Dutch centre-right political parties, supported by the anti-Islam Freedom Party, announced a coalition agreement on Thursday that calls for balancing the budget by 2015 and banning the burqa. >>> | Amsterdam, September 30, 2010

THE LOCAL: German politicians slam Dutch pact with Geert Wilders' far-right party: German politicians on both sides of the spectrum have expressed deep unease over the Netherlands’ conservative parties' decisions to strike a tentative power deal with the far-right populist Geert Wilders. >>> | Thursday, September 30, 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