Clegg: Thatcher memories gave us a bloody nose at polls
Nick Clegg launched a scathing attack on Thatcherism today as he sought to distance his party from his Tory coalition partners.
The embattled Liberal Democrat leader warned that "never again" would whole swathes of the North be economically "left for dead".
Admitting that his party had suffered a "bloody nose" in elections last week, Mr Clegg said: "One of the most important factors was the deep, visceral memories of the Eighties in the northern cities and Scotland.
"Fear is a powerful force in politics. But the Eighties won't happen again."
On the first anniversary of the Lib-Con coalition, Mr Clegg stressed the Government was a "coalition of necessity" as he defended the decision to join forces with the Tories and the central policy of cutting the structural deficit during this Parliament. "I have not doubted for a single moment that this was the right decision," he said.
Facing unrest in his party after the U-turn on higher tuition fees, a slump in the polls and criticism that he is too close to David Cameron, Mr Clegg promised disillusioned activists a new focus on "muscular liberalism" with a "strong liberal identity" in government.
The Deputy Prime Minister appeared to accept criticism that he has been seen as too close to Mr Cameron, as the two parties sought to work together, saying: "Maybe we've done too good a job of that."
He took a swipe at the "tribalism" of the Conservatives and for "closing rank in Spartan fashion" in the AV referendum. Mr Clegg insisted that the deficit reduction plan was to "repair the public finances", not to "shrink the size of the state" as being hailed by some Conservatives. He argued that the Lib-Dems had stopped key Tory policies such as replacing the Trident nuclear deterrent this Parliament and cutting inheritance tax.
But Mr Cameron has dismissed claims the Lib-Dems are a "moderating" influence, insisting that the Coalition was a "partnership" with each party making difficult decisions. The two parties are locked in a battle over the highly contentious Tory-led health reforms.
Several Conservative Cabinet ministers, though, including Foreign Secretary William Hague and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude have highlighted the benefits of a coalition while pushing through the deficit reduction plan.
Mr Clegg sought to challenge head-on the "broken promises" charge against the Liberal Democrats which have left some of his MPs admitting that the party is now seen by some voters as "liars".
He also argued that the Lib-Dems would have to become better at "blowing our own trumpet" on their policies which had been adopted by the Government, including raising the starting threshold for paying income tax, ending child detention and targeting more money in schools towards disadvantaged pupils. Despite falling in the polls to as low as eight per cent, the Lib-Dems would aim to show they could be "trusted" to deliver a strong economy and a fair society.
A poll for ITV News found that almost half of voters say the Coalition has been bad for Britain. Mr Clegg has taken the brunt of voters' anger, with 63 per cent of those questioned by ComRes saying they do not trust him and more than half agreeing he has overseen a sell-out of Lib-Dem principles.
