Catch21 Productions | If those were Nick Clegg’s ‘skeletons in the closet’, he’s pretty clean

If those were Nick Clegg’s ‘skeletons in the closet’, he’s pretty clean

The British have a ‘more insidious cross to bear’, because of their sense of moral superiority, than the Germans do in respect of Nazi guilt. This was according to what was actually a rather interesting and provocative article Nick Clegg wrote while an MEP back in 2002.

To be blunt though, who cares what any MEP had to say eight years ago?

It’s pretty obvious that the longer this general election campaign went on, and the more seriously he is taken as an electoral force, the more Nick Clegg would come under scrutiny from the media. But if this is the worst skeleton the Lib Dem leader has in his closet, then really doesn’t seem too dirty at all. But the transformation from Winston Churchill to Nazi was the narrative told in the tabloids last week.

And what about the details of Mr. Clegg’s rather privileged background that emerged last week? It turns out that Clegg is just as posh as David Cameron – the son of a successful banker, Nick went to a rather nice private school, holidayed in French châteaux, and has Russian aristocracy in the family tree.

But whilst a comfortable upbringing has been something of a plague on David Cameron, the electorate haven’t yet expressed any such venom towards Mr. Clegg’s roots. As the polls continue to show, the British public have sustained a good connection with the Lib Dem leader since his victory in the first TV debate.

The question, therefore, appears not to be ‘where did you come from?’ but ‘how much to you care for people less privileged than yourself?’ And it’s this sense of sincerity when it comes to the poor and vulnerable which really hasn’t come through for the Tories for a good few years now.

As proved by their corporate-sponsored attack on Labour’s planned increase in national insurance, the Tories are the voice of big business and they operate from a City of London perspective.

The Conservatives are trying to offer some help and incentives to workers and the unemployed, but their message seems forced, and is far from convincing the general public. We can leave personalities aside for a moment; this is the clear and simple reason why many of the disenchanted public’s ‘votes for change’ are now set to head in Mr. Clegg’s direction.

Rob Dale is a videoblogger and interviewer extraordinaire. Check out his website, or follow him on Twitter (robdaleworks). RobDaleWorks publishes an interview with the right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy on Monday.

(Photo courtesy Liberal Democrats @ Flickr)

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Dan
Posts: 1

Re: If those were Nick Clegg’s ‘skeletons in the closet’, he’s pretty clean
Reply #1 on : Tue April 27, 2010, 12:42:00

Yes but he's already saying that he won't work with GB based on the vote share if he came third place - I think thats a bit too demanding - before the election!