Lib Dems hope to capitalise on EU exit concerns in Cotswold constituency which chalked up a strong remain vote on 23 June Once they exchanged jokes in the Downing Street rose garden, but now Nick Clegg is trudging the Oxfordshire lanes of his former boss's constituency - not exactly in the hope of taking the seat from his Conservative successor but in an attempt to come second.
Every time I say something liberal about immigration or immigrants, people swarm to tell me that I'm being silly and idealistic and we have to respect people's genuine, legitimate concerns. Since they rarely say "these are my concerns" - there's a lot of hand-waving and a lot of pre-emptive defensiveness about how not-racist they are - it's difficult to figure out sometimes what the concerns are.
Black History Month is an opportunity for us all to reflect on Britain's diversity and rich culture, as well as serving as a reminder of the inequality that still exists.
Black History Month is an opportunity for us all to reflect on Britain's diversity and rich culture, as well as serving as a reminder of the inequality that still exists.
First steps in huge investment taken
Nick Clegg's account of the coalition and its aftermath is an insightful and in many places startlingly frank account. This is not a complete review, though do buy and read the book for yourself, but I'll pick up a few of the issues raised. Nick devotes a chapter to "the plumage of power" - looking at how a government anchored in the centre ground by Liberal Democrats ended up appearing from the outside merely to be run by unusually moderate Conservatives. One aspect of this was being seen with the trappings of power. The value was understood all along by Conservatives - because they live for this sort of thing. Speaking at the door of number 10, etc. There's a fascinating contrast between the coalition DPM who had a veto on government policy but no real visible trappings - and, say, the US Vice President who is well adorned with plumage, but whose powers are 'not worth a bucket of warm spit'.