Damning: Insight into LibDem leader Nick Clegg 'All nations have a cross to bear, and none more so than Germany with its memories of Nazism. But the British cross is more insidious still. A misplaced sense of superiority, sustained by delusions of grandeur and a tenacious obsession with the last war.' Another day, and yet more evidence that the nice Liberal Democrats are Britain's real nasty party. The above words, written by Nick Clegg while he was a member of the European Parliament, provide a fascinating if depressing insight into his beliefs. The Liberal leader's words couldn't be more insulting to the memory of those who lost their lives in the Second World War or insensitive to their relatives. It's perhaps unfair to point out that Mr Clegg's father is half-Russian, his mother is Dutch, and he's married to a Spaniard. But it is fair to say that Mr Clegg is an unashamed admirer of the European project - which despises national sovereignty - and wants to join the euro. It's also worth pointing out that Britain's parlous economic state would be even worse today if we were locked into the single currency and our exporters weren't benefiting from sterling's devaluation. Meanwhile yesterday it emerged that Liberal MPs have been receiving official party advice on how to get round the already lax rules on expenses. Their 'Best Practice Manual' identified ways to get taxpayers to pay for political propaganda. Their campaigns chief explained how to exploit 'grey areas' in MPs' expenses by being 'imaginative'. It seems that some Liberal MPs were only too happy to accept this advice. One arranged for the taxpayer to fund his political leaflets by paying an extortionate rate to 'advertise' his constituency surgery in them. Elsewhere in this paper, Peter Oborne details the underhand, mendacious and frankly malign tactics used by Liberal candidates around Britain. More evidence that this is not the nice party. Yesterday, Ken Clarke, one of the wisest figures left in British politics, argued that a hung parliament could result in the IMF being called in to rescue Britain. Tonight, David Cameron faces Mr Clegg in the second leadership debate. He owes it to the voters to put Mr Clegg on the spot, not only about the behaviour of his party, but about how the Liberal leader feels about Britain, its history, and its future as a sovereign nation. As the participants in this X Factor election campaign chase each other's tails round the country, the scale of the task facing an incoming government was starkly highlighted yesterday. Unemployment rose to 2.5million - its highest level since 1994. The number of economically inactive working age Britons - who could work but don't, often because they are on welfare - is a record 8.2million. The number of Britons who have joined the ranks of the long term unemployed has doubled in two years. Meanwhile, record numbers are employed in the public sector, with 1.62million people working for the NHS alone, a rise of 62,000 last year. This is a desperately worrying picture. Britain is, to recollect that most memorable of Margaret Thatcher's election slogans, not working. A diminishing number of overtaxed private sector workers support the ever swelling ranks of state employees. Meanwhile immigrants take the jobs rejected by Britons comfortable on welfare. This is economically unsustainable. Whoever wins the election will have to cut public sector numbers, encourage private sector job creation, and ensure that a healthy percentage of our eight million inactive citizens rejoin the world of work.MAIL COMMENT: Damning insight into the Liberal leader
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Britain's not working
Friday, 23 April 2010
Last updated at 7:49 AM on 22nd April 2010
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