Nick Clegg’s interview in The Observer today highlights what is fast becoming one of the biggest tensions in the coalition: the
Lib Dem desire to show that they are the governing party who cares.
Allies of Iain Duncan Smith have been infuriated by Lib Dem suggestions that the government would be doing little about youth unemployment if it was not for them. But Clegg repeats the claim to The
Observer:
A growing number of Tories worry that this Lib Dem critique could revive the ‘nasty party’ tag. Adding to this frustration is that the Lib Dems are simultaneously acting as a brake on the supply side reforms that lots of Tories think could help revive the economy.‘Whether it’s on youth unemployment, whether it’s on youngsters, whether it’s on getting behind advanced manufacturing and not putting all our eggs into the City of London basket, I don’t think that would have happened without the coalition.’
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