Another Coalition would be the best outcome for the country, says Nick Clegg

 
15 September 2013
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Speaking at his party's annual conference in Glasgow, Nick Clegg said that another coalition government would be the best outcome for the country because it enables the Liberal Democrats to act as a restraining influence on the larger parties of the Left and Right.

Outright victory for either Conservatives or Labour in the 2015 general election would result in "the wrong kind of recovery" for the UK economy, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said today.

A majority Labour government would wreck the recovery, while a Tory-only administration would not have the same commitment to fairness that the Lib Dems have brought to the coalition, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show that there have so far been no discussions with Tories about whether the two parties will continue their coalition in the event of a hung Parliament, and declined to say whether he would prefer a partnership with Conservatives or Labour, insisting that the decision would depend on the precise outcome of the poll.

Liberal Democrats will go into the 2015 election with the message "let us finish the job, but finish the job fairly", he said.

The sacrifices of the past few years would be "squandered" by a single-party government of either of the larger parties.

Mr Clegg said that the increase in the income tax threshold to £10,000 would not have happened without Lib Dems in the coalition, and indicated that his party will put at the heart of its next manifesto a further upgrading to take everyone on the minimum wage out of income tax altogether. By joining the coalition, Lib Dems have also been able to put a stop to Conservative plans to give inheritance tax breaks to millionaires, he said, warning that Tories would pursue "ideological cuts" if they were governing by themselves.

"Our message to the British people in 2015 will be essentially this: We will say `We've done very good things in Government - let us finish the job, but finish the job fairly'," Mr Clegg told the Marr Show.

"There are millions of people in this country who've made huge sacrifices and we've gone through this very difficult time over the last two or three years. That would be squandered if you have a single-party government of either Labour or Conservatives in 2015.

"It is my genuine belief that if we go back to the bad old days, not of coalition or balanced politics, but of either the left or the right dominating government on their own, you will get a recovery which is neither fair nor sustainable.

"I think Labour would wreck the recovery, and under the Conservatives - who don't have the same commitment to fairness which we do - you would get the wrong kind of recovery.

"Our message is that coalition is good, for the Liberal Democrats to stay in government is good, let us finish the job but let us finish it fairly."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in