Nick Clegg tells Lib Dems: Be proud of record in government


Nick Clegg and wife Miriam arrive at the Lib Dem conference Nick Clegg and wife Miriam arrive at the Lib Dem conference centre ahead of his speech

Lib Dem 2013 conference

The abuse Liberal Democrats have faced for governing with the Conservatives was all worth it, Nick Clegg has said.

The Lib Dem leader urged conference delegates in Glasgow to be proud now it is "a party of government" and helping to turn Britain around.

He will repeat his attacks on both Labour and the Conservatives, saying the worst thing the UK could do would be to elect either of them in 2015.

And he is to talk about his "private school, home counties" upbringing.

Aides to the deputy prime minister said it would be the first time he had used a set-piece speech to draw so personally on his own background.

'Finish the job'

The party has been keen to stress what it describes as the "confident mood" of the annual conference.

Analysis

Brian Wheeler BBC political reporter

For a party supposedly facing big losses at the next general election, there are few signs of panic here in Glasgow.

The Lib Dems have clearly got used to being a party of government and they like it.

You get the sense from speaking to activists, that for all the indignities of being trapped in an increasingly loveless marriage with the Tories, they would not swap it for their former single life of irrelevance.

They still pride themselves on being different from Labour and the Conservatives. Less tribal, more "grown-up". Thinking deeply about issues, rather than blindly following the leadership.

But you hear less airy talk about winning an outright majority of their own these days. And more about the wonders of coalition.

They can only hope the electorate agrees with them in 2015.

Mr Clegg's speech comes on the final day of the gathering, which has seen the party vote to back the government's economic programme.

"This recovery wouldn't be happening without us. We have made sure the deficit is being cut at the right pace," he is expected to say.

He will insist only a coalition government "can keep the country on the right path".

Following the party's decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives after the 2010 election, membership fell from 65,038 to 42,501.

It has since struggled in the polls, trailing in fourth place behind UKIP in some.

Mr Clegg will acknowledge that entering a coalition was not universally popular, saying: "Every insult we have had to endure since we entered government - every snipe, every bad headline, every blow to our support - that was all worth it, because we are turning Britain around."

The Lib Dem leader is open about going into the next general election looking not to win, but to form another coalition.

He is asking voters to support the party on the basis they would temper a "single-party government".

"Labour would wreck the recovery, the Conservatives would give us the wrong kind of recovery. Only the Liberal Democrats can finish the job and finish it in a way that is fair," he will say.

'Best start'

He will use the government announcement of free meals for the youngest pupils in England to draw a dividing line with his coalition partners.

Saying Lib Dems would extend the scheme to all primary school children, he will add: "Their priority is to help some families over others, with a tax break for married couples.

"That tells you everything you need to know about their values."

By contrast, he will say his party is helping "young children get the best possible start in life, and that tells you everything about ours".

The Lib Dem leadership have seen off challenges from activists to its nuclear weapons and economic policies, although delegates voted for a review of housing benefit rules - what critics call the "bedroom tax".

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