Coalition government is way forward – Clegg

Conference: Lib Dems’ 2015 manifesto will have talks in mind

Liberal Democrats will fight the 2015 general election on a message that only a West minster government including them can be trusted to deliver a recovery that is fair and sustainable.

A return to single-party government after five years of coalition would mean “squandering” the sacrifices made in the period of austerity, said leader Nick Clegg.

A majority Labour government would“wreck” the recovery, while a Conservative-only administration would deliver “the wrong kind of recovery” by allowing the proceeds of growth to go to the rich.

The Lib Dem manifesto for 2015 would be explicitly written with post-election negotiations in mind – identifying the policies which they were ready to “die in the trenches” for, as well as others which were open to compromise in coalition talks, said Mr Clegg.

One red line for any negotiations is almost certain to be measures to take anyone earning the minimum wage out of income tax by raising thresholds to around £ 12,500, which Mr Clegg said would be a “signature tune” of the Lib Dems’ campaign.

He hinted that the Lib Dems’ cherished “mansion tax” on residential properties worth over £2million was also like to feature, though he insisted final decisions would not be taken until nearer the election.

Despite going into the Lib Dems’ annual conference in Glasgow with his party trailing at 9% in the opinion polls, Mr Clegg was bullish about the prospects of retaining a share of power in a hung parliament after the election.

He said: “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’.

“It is my genuine belief that ifwe 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 we do – you would get the wrong kind of recovery.”

Coalition was “much better than either the left or the right messing things up on their own all over again”, he said.

Mr Clegg said there had been no discussions with the Tories about continuing their coalition. Talks with either them or Labour would have to wait until after the election.

Delegates gave the leadership more room for postelection negotiations by rejecting an amendment which would have committed the party to opposing new nuclear power plants.

In a historic moment overturning long-standing opposition to nuclear power, they voted by 230 to 183 in support of new plants in “limited “circumstances after Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey warned it would be “reckless” to rely on coal, gas and renewables.

Meanwhile, senior Cabinet minister Danny Alexander urged delegates not to insist on nuclear disarmament in a debate tomorrow, arguing that his own proposals for a scaledback Trident deterrent provided a “credible and deliverable” alternative with a genuine chance of being accepted by other parties in coalition discussions.

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