Member News
By Tony Grew - 19th September 2010
Nick Clegg has faced close questioning from Lib Dem activists at a Q&A session at the party's conference in Liverpool.
One asked if he could be trusted "with my party".
"Of course you can," the deputy prime minister replied.
He urged members to "hold my feet to the fire" over key Lib Dem policies and urged the party to continue its strong tradition of internal debate".
Clegg defended the coalition, which has taken poor families out of paying income tax, and restored the pensions-earnings link.
"There is nothing fair or socially just about asking our children and grandchildren to pay off our debts."
The deputy prime minister urged his party activists, who are being "beaten up by Labour", to hold their nerve.
He accused the opposition in general, and journalist Polly Toynbee in particular, if indulging in a "betrayal myth" over deficit reduction and being in "a near state of apoplexy and hysteria".
"Coalition is made up of compromises," he reminded his party.
And he had strong words for those who complain that the party has betrayed its voters.
"We did not win the election," Clegg said.
"If you want the Lib Dem manifesto, make sure we win the next election."
He assured them that he will protect the "independence and integrity" of the party.
"I am supremely relaxed about our independence and identity in the coalition."
Asked about aid for Pakistan, Clegg recalled his visit to flood-hit region. He said it is hard to capture the scale of the disaster.
He described "a biblical scene" with 20 million people displaced.
Clegg announced the government is "dramatically increasing" aid to Pakistan on top of the £60m already pledged.
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