Way Too Late

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has finally apologised for reversing his manifesto pledge of not raising tuition fees; he hasn’t said that the current policy of charging the extortionate amount of £9,000 per year is a bad policy, just that he originally made a promise that couldn’t be kept. So that’s okay then; he says he won’t break any pledges again and we’ll just take him at his word … I think not. As far as I’m concerned, Clegg lost all credibility as soon as did a deal with the devil, i.e. formed a coalition with the Conservatives. After that it was no surprise that other moral principles fell by the wayside. Former leaders Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell were able to vote against the fee rise along with 21 other Lib Dem M.P.s, but Clegg just couldn’t manage to honour his word because the power of government was too important to him. This apology is a waste of time: the Lib Dems will get trounced in the next general election and will only stand a chance of recovering once they’ve got rid of Clegg as their leader and put a great deal of distance between themselves and the Conservative Party. And students, I fear, will have to suffer long-term debt for many years to come.