Ok – here’s a special treat for political anoraks – and given the size and longevity of the current stooshie over Scotland’s independence referendum, that could be more than the usual 5 blokes.
On the BBC programme I used to do for the BBC Riddoch Questions I interviewed Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in Feb 2008. He had just chosen to walk out of a parliamentary debate over not getting a referendum on staying in Europe. Yip – seems obscure. But stay with me. I used the opportunity to gently (ok fairly robustly) suggest that Scots might prefer to have a referendum on independence or more powers for Scotland....and to see some UK leadership from the Lib Dems on a federal Britain. Boy was I nippy back then! Anyway its particularly interesting given the current debate where Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are lined up full square behind David Cameron opposing independence even though they DO want “substantial devolution of powers.” Here's the audio.
What a treat! He did a good job of trying to keep his options open, but not quite good enough...
Posted by: Rupert Goodwins | January 13, 2012 at 12:57 AM