Peter Hoskin

Clegg keeps digging

As James Kirkup reports over at Three Line Whip, Nick Clegg’s still getting himself into a “pickle” over Europe.  Here are the three key points which came out of his media briefing earlier today:

“Yes, [Clegg]’s put his MPs on a three line whip not to vote at all when the Commons decides on a Tory bid for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

But no, he won’t say if he’ll sack the (significant) number of front-benchers who may well defy him on that: ‘I’m allowed to decide at that time.’

And no, he (probably) won’t allow his side to back a clever two-question amendment being worked up by Ian Davidson, a Labour rebel, which might just have given him a get-out:  ‘We certainly aren’t getting into game-playing.’”

And so Clegg continues to foist his bizarre position on the rest of the Lib Dems.  But his reluctance to confirm whether or not he’ll sack front-bench rebels suggests that he’s worried.  Particularly after I Want a Referendum’s bombshell, a pledge to sack the rebels could well amount to a decimation of the Lib Dems’ top team.  Clegg’s trying to avoid that difficult situation.

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But what of the third point?  As Fraser wrote, Davidson’s sound proposal is an “early test of Nick Clegg’s credibility” and of his alleged commtment to an in-or-out referendum.  Simply put: Clegg has now failed that test. 

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