Nick Clegg does PMQs - the tweets

Nick Clegg did Prime Minister's Questions today while David Cameron is schmoozing his way round the Middle East. He was so assured, confident and natural and spoke completely without notes. He even answered the question he was given and not the one he wanted to answer, too. He made David Cameron look like a complete amateur, to be honest, and Gordon Brown, too.

My Liberal Democrat Voice colleague Nick Thornsby reminded us on Twitter this morning that four years ago, two days after Barack Obama was elected the first time round, Clegg, then a humble third party leader, questioned PM Gordon Brown, who put him down quite snidily. And the subject of Clegg's questions? Taxing the wealthy and cutting taxes for the poorest. Nothing if not consistent. Have a look here.



It was quite a contrast to see Clegg in Brown's position today.

There was one irritation, though. In fact, two. Alan Reid and Simon Hughes both got up and asked the pathetically toadying soft ball question that always seems to come from the Government side in both Holyrood and Westminster. I can't stand it whoever is doing it. I don't know what Alistair Carmichael had on those two, whether they'd stolen his orange Clubs or something, but seeing grown liberals toadying is so not a good look. And it's completely unnecessary. Nick didn't need it as he'd already peppered references to the same points throughout the proceedings.

I think my favourite bit was when Peter Bone asked a really friendly question. Nobody could ever have expected that and Nick looked quite surprised about it. Mrs Bone didn't get a mention, though. He will probably be in big trouble later. During the exchange, Nick got his obligatory Nadine Dorries joke in, saying that when he'd heard she'd gone off to the jungle to eat insects, he assumed it was a punishment from the Chief Whip. As if the gentlemanly Sir George Young would ever do anything so, well, naff.

As is my wont, I have saved various tweets from the proceedngs in a storify thingy for you to read.

Lords Reform dropped? Sulk a bit, then carry on...

So, if the Guardian is to be be believed, David Cameron is about to drop Lords Reform because there is no way to get it past the right wingers in his party who all stood for election in a manifesto that included changes to the Upper Chamber. If David Cameron isn't a bit scared that Peter Bone and Nadine Dorries have the upper hand in his party at the moment, then I'd be very surprised.

As a Liberal Democrat, I'm gutted that it looks like one of our major constitutional reforms, backed in some form by all parties in 2010 and therefore endorsed by the electorate, looks like it's dead in the water. When we've come up against a silly Tory plan we really can't live with, we've at least behaved like adults within the Coalition and made changes for the better.It's clear that we've succeeded, given the depth of the hostility towards us that openly emanates from the Tory backbenches.

David Cameron has abjectly failed to show that he leads a modern party. His true colours have come out. I doubt he was ever that keen on Lords Reform anyway, certainly not enough to put any effort into getting it through. His leadership looks weak and as under siege from the right as John Major's was - and he has far less in the way of political skill than his predecessor. It's not pretty. Bone, Dorries et al will be all pumped now and looking to scupper other Coalition measures they don't like, with equal civil marriage no doubt top of their list.

The Labour Party have chosen the path of unprincipled opportunism. They could still change their mind and decide to back the programme motion which would allow the legislation to proceed. I can't see it, though. They see their mission as one to destabilise the coalition and if that means voting against things they say they believe in, then so be it. Be clear, it's not about protecting the people of Britain from cuts because they would have pretty much done all the same things. We know Darling talked about raising VAT and for every £8 the Coalition has cut, Labour would have cut £7. It's about showing that Coalition doesn't work so that they and the Tories can go back to the bad old days of keeping all the power to themselves. Labour are supposed to be progressive, but they're hardly putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to enacting constitutional reform. I wrote a few weeks ago about how Paddy Ashdown led the Liberal Democrats into the lobbies for the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 when they could have brought Major's government down. Yes, we might want to harbour dreams that it could have led to a Labour/Lib Dem coalition with John Smith asn PM, but we can't be certain of that. The divisive election campaign that followed might have led to a withdrawal from Europe that would have been disastrous for people's livelihoods. At elast we were true to ourselves and what we believe in. Then and now, we act like grown ups, for the good of the country.

So, what should happen now? We should definitely sulk for a bit. We are quite definitely on the side of the Angels here and we have been wronged by people we'd made an Agreement with. We've stuck by that agrreement, endorsed by a Special Conference of our Party, when at times we would have rathered not, when it was clearly not in our electoral interests to do so.As Willie Rennie said after the local elections, any idea that we were ever in this for ourselves is clearly nonsense.

But sulking won't get us very far. So the other possibility is revenge. Do we scupper the boundary changes that we really don't want? I am not so sure.

If we have the chance to demand change, it has to be change that means something to ordinary people, not change that would give us a better chance of retaining nmore seats. What would be on my list? Well, first, scupper Theresa May's appalling family immigration rule changes. UK citizens should have the right to have their spouses live with them in this country regardless of income. End of. The web snooping stuff can join Lords Reform in the legislative bin, too. Let's not even waste the Committee's time. Bin this illiberal nonsense now.

What other prizes could we exact? Because of the Liberal Democrats, the wealthiest are now paying more tax, but not enough. Let's look again at the Mansion Tax, build a case for it in the country. Let's get a real campaign going. The wealthiest are not yet paying their fair share and we need to look at this again.

We have to resist any Tory moves to give a sub-inflation rise in benefits and the minimum wage. We held our nerve and insisted on the full whack last year and we have to do the same again.

And we must absolutely not give any ground  on equal marriage. In fact, we might want to take it further and follow Scotland's example and allow those religious bodies who want to carry out same sex marriage ceremonies to do so.

We must look again at mental health, an area Nick Clegg has done so much to break down stigma and make sure people have access to the right therapies. Let's look at where we could add to that, to really improve the quality of people's lives, particularly in light of the study this week that showed that people with Depression, stress and anxiety have a higher risk of premature death from heart attacks and strokes.

So, yes, we can allow ourselves some anger. We need to make sure that the blame for the failure of Lords reform is equally shared between both conservative parties. We need to remind people for years that we wanted democratic change, the others blocked it.  We must not allow this to break the Coalition, though, which is still the best possible Government for this country at the present time. We need to continue to behave like the honourable grown ups we are within the Government but we must be more robust about saying no constructively, emphatically and publicly.

Nick Clegg needs to take Cameron on a bit more, particularly on post 2015 policy ideas. They are fair game.

Of course,  it's not too late to reform the Lords. All the Labour party has to do is to say it supports the Programme Motion and we can get on with having a nationwide debate about it. If we have to agree to a refrendum in the process, I'm prepared to go with it. Will Ed Miliband's party have  the courage of its convictions to do that?  Even  if he does, the Tories will still have broken the Coalition Agreement and we need to make sure that they are seen to give us something in return.

There's always an excuse..... #lordsreform

Remember the Labservatives? That was the brilliant Liberal Democrat advertising campaign which satirised how Labour and the Conservatives collude to prevent meaningful reform.

We saw it with the AV referendum. Much as though I'd prefer we just hadn't gone there, the nasty and vitriolic no campaign, backed by rich, powerful vested interests, fuelled by a collusion of people like Tom Harris from Labour and Tory Nadine Dorries emphasised that politically and socially conservative forces would stop at nothing to hinder even the most modest of reforms. Ed Miliband's half hearted support for the Yes campaign and his reluctance to work with the Liberal Democrats did no favours for either him or his party.

And now we have it again over Lords Reform. Ed Miliband's Labour Party, which went to the country promising:

Further democratic reform to create a fully elected Second Chamber will then be achieved in stages. At the end of the next Parliament one third of the House of Lords will be elected; a further one third of members will be elected at the general election after that. Until the final stage, the representation of all groups should be maintained in equal proportions to now. We will consult widely on these proposals, and on an open-listproportional representation electoral system for the Second Chamber, before putting them to the people in a referendum.

Nick Clegg's House of Lords Reform Bill gives them pretty much what they want. Not all, but closer to what they want than the status quo by a long chalk. Why on earth they are intending on walking into the voting lobbies behind the likes of Nadine Dorries and Eleanor Laing and other right wing Tories is beyond me. For a party that's supposed to believe in democratic accountability, this is a major betrayal of the British people. Do they really think defeating the Programme Motion gives the Bill a better chance of scrutiny? Really? By giving the floor to the Tory right to pontificate for hours on how much they hate Nick Clegg   how giving power away brings them out in hives. Structure to the debate is always preferable to that sort of anarchy.

Every Tory MP stood on a platform of building a consensus on a democratically elected second Chamber. Nick Thornsby has had a good look at their recent history on this. In terms of consensus building, the Liberal Democrats have been prepared to compromise and so should they.

Now, let's face it,  there are elements of the House of Lords Reform Bill that make me foam at the mouth. Why on earth we are keeping in an albeit small number of places for Bishops is beyond me. Nobody should sit in a Parliament by rights because of their religious position. If they want to be in Parliament, they should stand for election like everybody else. I'd also rather see the Chamber 100% elected rather than 80% and I think there should be the option for people to re-stand. Having said all of that, I'd happily vote for the Bill as it stands. There is no way, in a modern democracy, that members of a parliament should be appointed by the political leaders of the day for life with no way of ever getting rid of them whatever they do. It is a major change to ensure that 4/5 are chosen by the people.

You can always find an excuse not to do what you know needs doing but you really don't want to. I know that more than most. There's always an excuse not to give up overeating unhealthy food (well, I'm going out for dinner 3 weeks on Saturday, no point in starting now) or go to the gym, even though I know perfectly well that, however much I don't want to, I'll be a lot healthier and happier even if I managed it half the time.

Labour needs to stop being so precious and decide whether it's for greater democracy or against it. It failed to deliver Lords reform in 13 years when it had a parliamentary majority so we know their heart isn't in it even though on paper they accept it's the right thing to do. If Ed Miliband follows Peter Bone and Nadine Dorries into the no lobby tonight, he'll be saying that his Labour party is no different to its predecessor.

The Guardian, not exactly the Liberal Democrats' best friends, has strongly urged Labour to get a grip and seize the opportunity to reform this arcane institution.

If Labour cannot bring themselves to agree such a motion, then they are not being true to their history as a party of reform. Neither dislike of the coalition nor frustration at its proposed timetable justifies going into the lobbies with Tory MPs whose only concern – as they made clear in a torrent of reactionary interventions and speeches yesterday – is to preserve the Lords as it exists today. To vote in a way which effectively abandons the bill to filibuster and delay would be a shameful decision for Labour, with its fine record, ancient and modern, on Lords reform. Keir Hardie and Robin Cook would turn in their graves.

So, what will Ed Miliband do?

Also in the Guardian, our Charles Kennedy says:

There are only two reasons to oppose this bill: to defend the establishment and the status quo, or to give a bloody nose to the coalition generally and Nick Clegg specifically. Progressive politicians can have no truck with the former, while the latter is cynical short-termism of the most counterproductive kind.

Labour politicians for generations have fought to bring democracy to the House of Lords. Most recently Jack Straw made a valiant effort to try to end the hereditary principle. He did so with the support of the Lib Dems. But the establishment kicked back and his reforms, while progress, were minor and piecemeal. And at the last general election, reforming the House of Lords was included in the Labour manifesto by its author, Ed Miliband.

I actually feel quite fearful and sad this morning at the way vested interests and conservative forces are trying to hold us back, to stamp all over the dreams and rights of others. In Scotland we have a Cardinal, the head of the Catholic Church, basically telling LGBT people that he's coming to get them.  We can't allow a Church to threaten the democratically elected Government of the day when poll after poll shows that a significant majority of people back equal marriage. It's not for me to set the Catholic Church's priorities for them, but surely any war chest of £100,000 would be better spent on helping the poor and vulnerable than funding a campaign of hatred against people who simply want to marry the person they love. It's not even as if the Catholic Church is going to be forced to conduct same sex marriages so why they should feel the need to prevent others from exercising a basic human right is beyond me.

Liberals have to stand up to this sort of pressure from vested interests, whether it comes from within the Westminster Bubble or from the churches or from large corporations. It will be very clear, looking back on all of this, that the Liberal Democrats were unwavering in their quest to give power away, to tackle the establishment, to argue for the freedom and tolerance that is so important for any society. If the arguments over Lords Reform and equal marriage prove anything, it's that the Liberal Democrats are badly needed. Labour and the Tories definitely can't be trusted to challenge the established order of things. We'll see how far the SNP will go on equal marriage and whether they will stand up and how, or if, they vote tonight on Lords reform. Their Angus McNeil made a lot of interventions yesterday but didn't actually tell us very much. There's a surprise.

I'm finding the whole atmosphere of politics really difficult at the moment. It's poisonous, polarising and not helpful for proper development of ideas and debate. Politicians generally need to do better. It's hardly surprising people just aren't engaged in the debate or think that politics or politicians can do anything to help them.

Tory MP Peter Bone says Liberal Democrats taint the Tory brand

Tory MP Peter Bone is a bit of a maverick. Fiercely Euro-sceptic, he asked David Cameron, on behalf of his wife, in June for an assurance that we'd never bail out any of these European types.  The Independent says he described the NHS as not being of place in Stalinist Russia and once paid a trainee only 87p an hour. He's definitely one of the more untameable right wing Tories.

So what on earth was he doing at our Conference? Certainly not meeting like minds.  In fact, he was there to appear on Newsnight on Monday night to talk about his angst that we are stopping the Tories from putting many of their policies into action. You can see the whole thing on iPlayer here.

I was in the audience for this live show. I'd been contacted earlier in the day and asked to be part of it so at 9:30 I duly trooped up, ironically, to the Sky News stand where we'd been asked to congregate. We were then taken into the Conference hall. We could see Nick Robinson and Huw Edwards do the 10 o'clock news from the other side of the room.

Paxman appeared before 10 and started to shoot his intro and links. He was actually really funny and not at all severe off camera, indulging in a little light banter with the crowd.

At 10:30, the programme started. We obviously couldn't see all the videos that were being shown, but we could hear the audio. The first item was an interview with Vince Cable who got a big round of applause when he came on. Bizarrely, Paxman obsessed for ages on comments Vince had made about the Euro 10 years ago rather than anything that was actually happening today.

And then it was time for the comedy turn. Peter Bone, MP for Wellingborough came on and was applauded loudly by us every time he opened his mouth about how much influence we were having on the Government. Paxman started by asking him if we were grateful enough to the Tories for taking us into Government:

Surprisingly, I do think they’re grateful. This conference has been an eye opener for me. These people are enjoying being in government and think they’re pulling above their weight. And you are pulling above your weight. You are getting  liberal things  through the Government and that causes me great concern.

He replied "Oh, definitely, yes" when Paxman asked him if he thought we had tainted the Tory brand, and, pressed to give examples of how, he said:

So many things.....  I’ve voted more times against the Government than most liberal MPs and that does seem to indicate that the liberals are getting more of their own way.
We were going to bring powers back from Europe and that’s been stopped and lately there’s been the health reforms have been dramatically been changed because of what the Liberal democrats have done.

A particular highlight of this was seeing our own Callum Leslie take on Paxman and win in the audience discussion, telling him that the media didn't get our party, how they were misrepresenting what we were doing. It's a brilliant contribution.

This was one spirited audience and they gave the veteran broadcaster quite a run for his money.

You can hear me say in part of the rammy at one point, when we were being asked if we'd rather be in coalition with Labour or the Tories that we want to implement Liberal Democrat policies but I didn't make a contribution on my own.

Peter Bone did make me smile, though, when he was lamenting that we had more influence on the coalition than the Tory right did. It proves the point we've been making all along that we are taking the sting out of the Tories.

The only thing is that when this finished at 11:30, I still hadn't had anything to eat. I ended up buying a burrito from the stand near the Jury's Inn. And I'm still alive, which is a bit of a surprise. Not even a moment's nausea.

I think it's clear that if we weren't involved in the coalition, people like Peter Bone and Nadine Dorries would have a huge influence on Tory Government policy. That has to be a good thing.