Clegg the trickster strikes again

The Tories would have scrapped ID cards and the third runway anyway. Clegg is trying to pretend it's to his party's credit.

In an article penned for today's Guardian (recently turned into the Liberal Democrats' official organ) the Deputy PM in the Conservative/Liberal coalition argues that "the third runway at Heathrow has been cancelled. ID cards have been scrapped. There will be no more child detention", boasting that "[th]ese are some of the early achievements of a government that had its first cabinet meeting just two days ago".

The joke is wearing thin though. Nick Clegg managed to deceive people once with his public plea that the election was "a choice between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems" (see here).

But he must really have a low opinion of us all if he thinks we don't know that a Conservative government would have scrapped the third runway and ID cards anyway (see here and here). As for child detention, though the Tories had made no official commitment prior to May 6, they were said to be overwhelmingly against it.

Yet Clegg the trickster is trying to pretend that it's because of the LibDems that those changes will take place. It's not true. Quite simply, the Lib Dems didn't have to join a Tory government and ditch entire chunks of their promises to achieve all of the above.

Cameron's Deputy is obviously desperate to pull the wool over the public's eyes and sell the spectacular about face to millions of voters who are struggling to make heads or tails of the Lib Dems' somersault.

The impression is that the party's high ranks know that they're at risk of being wiped off the face of the earth, which is probably why the Guardian is looking increasingly packed with pro-Lib Dem articles. Today alone, alongside Clegg's piece, there's a lengthy interview with Vince Cable and an article by Shirley Williams.

Also: read Nick Clegg's 2008 conference speech, including the quote: "Will I ever join a Conservative government? No. Will I ever join a Labour government? No. I will never allow the Liberal Democrats to be a mere annex to another party's agenda".