American Express? That'll do nicely
Never a truer word spoken. Not from Clegg at least.
No less than six years after entering the house as an MP Nick Clegg today made his first conference speech from a position of previously unimaginable power. Not simply leader of his party, but Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister. Remind me quite how that happened.
Still he’s learned his trade well, and Clegg made a statesmen-like speech of which he and his Tory coalition cohorts should be proud. There was relentless Labour bashing throughout (Ra Ra Ra – we made they right call disaffecting to the right), while simultaneously attempting to reassert his party’s own Lib Dem ‘identity’. Nice try.
My personal favourite passage could have come from any member of the True Blue Bullingdon Club…
“The problems are there. They are real. And we have to solve them. It’s the same as a family with earnings of £26,000 a year who are spending £32,000 a year. Even though they’re already £40,000 in debt. Imagine if that was you. You’d be crippled by the interest payments. You’d set yourself a budget. And you’d try to spend less. That is what this government is doing.”
Simpleton grocer shop patronising political rhetoric at its best.
And then straight to Labour bashing:
“This isn’t new for Liberal Democrats. Speak to councillors who’ve led councils across the country; they know what it’s like to pick up the pieces after Labour spent a community dry. Newcastle, Sheffield, Lambeth, Southwark, and right here in Liverpool. Our Council leaders know the poorest are the ones that suffer when the finances get out of control and money has to be spent on debts. They know there is nothing fair about denying you have a problem and leaving it for the next generation to clear it up. Would you ask your children to pay your credit card bill?” – Er, ‘yes’ retorted someone in the crowd.
Read the full speech here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8691753.stm
THE OSBORNE IDENTITY PART XVVIII
George Osborne reckons benefit claimants make a “lifestyle” choice… Really? No doubt then it was a ‘lifestyle’ choice when the Chancellor decided to avoid capital gains tax when he ‘flipped’ and then sold his London home in 2006 for a £748,000 profit. Oh, and look who gleefully joined in the Telegraph’s expenses witch hunt of 2009… Only the Lib Dems’s Treasury spokesman, Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay… http://tinyurl.com/flip-in-hell
And who has just accused the banks of “excessive profiteering”? No! Step forward Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay… http://tinyurl.com/good-lord-lord-oakeshott