‘Another week, another speech about the evils of capitalism.’ So joked Nick Clegg at the start of his speech to Mansion House earlier, and there was some truth in this particular jest. All three parties are jostling to be seen as the harbingers of a new economy at the moment — one that doesn’t reward failure; that benefits everyone ‘fairly’; that won’t seize up as the old one did; that etc, etc. Ed Miliband sketched out his rather insipid vision for this economy last week; David Cameron will hope to do a better job later this week. Today, though, was the Deputy Prime Minister’s turn.
So what did Clegg say? The theme of his speech was neatly encapsulated in a couple of sentences towards the beginning: ‘Liberals believe strongly in the virtues of the market. But only if it is a market for the many, not a market for the few.’ And from there he took the familiar Cleggite route of attacking ‘vested interests’ wherever they be, from bankers through to the unions and even politicians themselves. The answer, he said, lay in coalition plans to place ‘power in the hands of the people’. And that means policies to make big companies more transparent and to encourage employee ownership à la John Lewis.
In political terms, what distinguished the speech was its mix of friendliness and venom towards the Tory party. Clegg’s approving mention for Jesse Norman and his analysis of ‘crony capitalism’ certainly belonged on the friendly side of the ledger. But more acidic was his suggestion that the ‘traditional conservative right has a strong faith — at worst, a blind faith — in the capacity of markets to correct themselves.’ And that was, of course, followed by a curt dismissal for Michael Gove’s idea of a new Royal Yacht (see video above).
Such put-downs were leavened by an attack on Labour (for presiding over the old economy) and on Ed Miliband (for being shacked up with the unions). But Clegg’s words today will still leave some Tories frustrated that the Lib Dems are trying to hog the caring, anti-Establishment mantle for themselves. Particularly as there’s some speculation that they leaked Gove’s idea to the Guardian in the first place.
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