As I've argued before, having had many interactions with Clegg over the last few years, he is - quite simply - more of the same. Despite the many evangelical supporters of the Illiberal Undemocrats' idolised view of him, he's far from a straight talker and is in fact a very slippery customer indeed.Clegg has just backtracked on one of the key promises of his campaign - the one promise I think which has won him so many undecided votes: That in the event of a coalition government, where the Illiberal Undemocrats would be the kingmakers, Clegg would demand a change to a proportional representation system.
He spoke to the Financial Times yesterday and said this:
“I’ve never talked about preconditions. What I’ve said is it’s unavoidable. Of course it’s a vital element to the renewal of politics that we need in broad terms. That’s all I’ve said.”
So there you have it in black and white folks. Pure, unadulterated and all too typical politician double-speak. I wonder how many of the new supporters coming to the fold over the PR issue will have the chance to hear about this before Thursday? Probably very few.
A key concept in information and communications theory is that the meaning of the message is what is received. Clegg knew full well what people thought he was standing for with regards to this issue, unless he and his team are all deaf, dumb and blind. There is simply no excuse for this deception.
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4 comments:
Sky news link for anyone who can't access the FT one.
This is just Sky News baloney.
Another way of writing the headline would be "Clegg says proportional representation is unavoidable"
I dont think we can judge before anyone has even voted and before he knows what position he is in.
FFS Electoral reform is still one of the 4 main priorities declared by the Lib Dems as their position going into any discussions with any party in the new parliament. He CAN'T just abandon a policy that has been debated & decided at Conference because the Lib Dems are not an autocratic party. This is yet more Tory lies and propaganda... desperate stuff!
That's a direct quote from him. He's using typical political-class weasel words to avoid what many thought previously was a firm commitment.
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