Clegg champions Lib Dem awkward squad
Sunday, 18 September 2011 10:13 AM
By Alex Stevenson Follow @alex__stevenson
Nick Clegg has raised Liberal Democrat spirits by telling them how "awkward" the party's ministers are being in government.
The party leader, speaking at the opening Saturday night rally of the Lib Dem autumn conference in Birmingham, told delegates that the coalition's junior party was punching above its weight as a result.
"We are prepared to be awkward," he said. "It's the same quality that makes Liberal Democrat ministers fight tooth and nail in their departments for the things we believe in.
"In government, it means sometimes we have to be awkward. As our coalition partners are finding out on a daily basis, we are not here to make things easy. We’re here to put things right."
The deputy prime minister has been pressured by his party on numerous issues in the last 12 months.
Most notably, a defeat for the leadership on the government's controversial NHS reforms led to the 'listening pause' which significantly watered down health secretary Andrew Lansley's proposals.
Mr Clegg said the party had its "share of rows" and suggested the coalition was as fractious behind closed doors.
"But we can't have all our fights in public," he added.
"While times are hard, while people are struggling, the last thing people want is to see the nation's leaders squabbling and point scoring.
"That's why I can't tell you about every debate we have behind closed doors. But rest assured, we are fighting for Liberal values every day."
Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems were a "family" who would not be divided by those trying to tear the party apart.
"There has never been a gathering of Liberal Democrats in our history that hasn’t seen some sort of disagreement," he acknowledged.
"The Liberal Democrats are a family. There are those who wish to drive a wedge between us – our opponents, the vested interests in politics and the media who want to put us back in our place.
"They won't succeed. Because whether you consider yourself more of a social democrat or a classical liberal, whether your hero is Gladstone or Keynes, Paddy Ashdown or Shirley Williams, we are all, to one degree or another, all of the above.
"We share the same inheritance. We are cut from the same cloth. We are Liberal Democrats."
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