That shrinking feeling for Nick Clegg as Labour film mocks Coalition

 
Parody: the film sees Clegg become ever smaller, left, as he is forced into decisions by a heartless Cameron, right
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Nick Clegg is tonight lampooned as the Un-Credible Shrinking Man in a new Labour Party TV film that uses comedy to portray him as a minnow in David Cameron’s Cabinet.

The film shows the Liberal Democrat leader being treated with contempt by Cameron and other Tory ministers in a Cabinet meeting, where he shrinks into a doll-sized figure.

Mr Clegg ends up being chased screaming in terror down the Cabinet table by Socks, the Downing Street cat, while Mr Cameron and the other Tories laughingly go off to dinner.

Tonight’s mocking party election broadcast breaks new ground by being made as a parody of the 1957 B movie, the Incredible Shrinking Man.

Junior partner: Nick Clegg, portrayed in the film as a doll-sized figure

But behind the jokes is a serious election strategy, targeting voters dismayed by the Liberal Democrats going into Coalition with the Conservatives. Fourteen Lib Dem seats are on Labour’s key target list, including Brent Central, Hornsey and Bermondsey.

The film, created by advertising agency Lucky Generals, opens with Mr Clegg proudly taking his seat in Cabinet, even when a Tory minister rudely pinches his biscuit.

He is bullied into giving tax cuts to the rich, after Cameron warns of a millionaire who is “down to his last two yachts”, and into agreeing the so-called Bedroom Tax.

Clegg also agrees to U-turn on student fees, but each decision makes him smaller, until he is the size of a tea cup, hiding his modesty behind a Lib Dem rosette.

Mr Cameron is parodied as uncaring, telling colleagues that he is off for “an afternoon nap, to close an A&E department, then dinner”.

When Mr Clegg asks what he should be doing, Cameron bids him “tattyboo” and sets Socks upon the terrified Clegg.

“It is a light hearted way of making a serious point,” said a senior Labour source.

“We are trying to hold Liberal Democrats responsible for their decisions, and to get the message across to people who are not normally interested in politics.”

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