Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Is Clegg off to the EU?

Nick Clegg seems to be using every opportunity to hone his EU credentials.

Having begun this European election campaign by challenging the UKIP leader to debate whether Britain should stay in or get out of the EU, he is ending it by insisting that being pro-Europe was the best way to be pro-British.

In a speech in Oxford, he attacked those he called "false patriots", saying:

"Ukip. Conservative backbenchers. Isolationists. They are not thinking about Britain's interests. They shroud their narrow nationalism in the language of patriotism. They mask their hostility towards Europe as British bulldog spirit. But these are false patriots. The isolation they offer is a breach of our history, of our great British tradition of engagement, and of our enlightened national self-interest. If the forces of insularity and chauvinism get their way they will ensure that Britain no longer benefits from the political and economic advances in Europe that we have shaped. And they will hand the keys to running our European continent to the Germans, the French and others, while we retreat back across the English Channel."


It seems to me that this is not genuine political campaigning so much as preparing the ground for defeat. Lining up his next job.

Clegg is rallying the troops of course, but only where the rallying cry suits his personal circumstances. He's preparing for failure. He isn't saying what Lib Dem MEPs would do for the UK, because the answer to that is nothing.

No doubt this is the kind of thing the Lib Dem faithful wish to hear from their leader, but as ever with Clegg, the focus is tightly trained on his own situation.

Here are my credentials. I'm on your side. Always have been, always will be. I'll fight tooth and nail for the EU.  

From a suitably prestigious office over at your place.  

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5 comments:

Dan said...

OK, let's tot up the main points regarding Clegg:

Popularity in his native country extremely low: check.

Party he belongs to here about to kick him out for being useless: check.

Political judgement highly suspect (picked fight with Farange and lost, twice!): check.

Employability less than zero: check.


Yes, Cleggie is off to the EU, along with other such failures like Neil Kinnock and so on. He won't be missed.

A K Haart said...

Dan - good summary and you are right - he won't be missed.

Sackerson said...

As I said in 2010: http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/who-is-nick-clegg.html

A K Haart said...

Sackers - I think it's the Kinnock Effect, his only durable achievement. We now expect high profile failures to have their sights set on a congenial international sinecure.

Wolfie said...

All that remains for the British people will be to make sure he loses his second job in a few years time.