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Nick Clegg: I’ll scale back key policies to balance books
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent22.07.09
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is to axe many of his party's flagship policies. He announced today that a string of key Lib-Dem plans would be downgraded to “aspirations”.
Policies under threat are expected to include axing university tuition fees, a higher basic state pension and free personal care for the elderly.
Mr Clegg is seeking to position himself as the only party leader willing to take tough decisions on public spending to tackle Britain's soaring budget deficit.
Unveiling the radical scaling-back of his party's short-term ambitions in the wake of the recession, he said: “Our shopping list of commitments will be far, far, far, far, far shorter. We will have to ask ourselves some immensely difficult questions about what we as a party can afford. A lot of cherished Lib-Dem policies will have to go on the back burner.”
While stressing they will remain “aspirations,” he added: “We are not going to kid the British people into thinking we could deliver the full list of commitments we have put to them at the last three or four elections.”
Mr Clegg could face strong opposition to his proposed overhaul at the Lib-Dem conference in Bournemouth this autumn. However, he will make the case for restricting the party's firm commitments to just three areas; boosting education, “green” jobs and constitutional reforms.
He is seeking to exploit Chancellor Alistair Darling's refusal to announce a spending review which would show where Labour plans to cut spending and David Cameron's reluctance to reveal
details of how the Tories would balance the books.
The Lib-Dem leader, who could get hold of some levers of power if there is a hung Parliament, outlined his plans in a mini-manifesto, A Fresh Start for Britain, being published today.
He said he had not yet compiled a “hit list” of policies to be ditched, but added that “everything is vulnerable”. He qualified this by saying it was “almost impossible” to see his party cutting NHS spending.
