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Liberal Democrat leader promises in end-of-conference speech to build growth and a balanced economy The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, ended a surprisingly placid party conference by offering himself as the anchor that will keep the coalition government on the centre ground and on a liberal path. Ending a conference dominated by the gathering gloom on the economy, and by whether the Liberal Democrat Keynesians in the government should challenge the Treasury orthodoxy, Clegg promised the coalition “can and will do more” to help a worsening economy. But he said the government would not veer from its commitment to eliminate the structural deficit by the end of the parliament, and admitted this meant a “long, hard road ahead”. Quoting JS Mill, he added: “the only struggles worth having are the uphill ones” and urged his party to lift their spirits, saying: “Never apologise for the difficult things we are having to do.” The party had grown up by going through the door of government, he said, repeatedly claiming his party was “doing the right thing and not the easy thing in the national interest”. He set out what he saw as his party’s role in the next three years: “In a coalition, we have two kinds of power – the power to hold our coalition partners back and the power to move the government forwards, so we can keep the government to a liberal path, anchor the government in the centre ground.” Clegg also promised to protect civil liberties, reform party funding, give the young and dispossessed a chance to prosper, build a new balanced economy and “fight for greater fairness, even in the headwinds of an economic slowdown”. He drew most applause when he told the Tory right the Human Rights Act was here to stay. “These are British rights, drafted by British lawyers,” he said. Unlike the speeches of many of his cabinet colleagues this week, his remarks were devoid of explicit attacks on the Conservatives or their values. Instead he highlighted their differences by referring to Lib Dem policies such as higher personal allowances and the pupil premium. In a lengthy passage on the state of the economy, he said the outlook for the global economy has got worse, adding: “We need to do more, we can do more, and we will do more for growth and jobs.” But his aides insisted the speech should not be seen as a call to increase capital spending or bring forward planned spending. The goal remained to eliminate the structural deficit by 2015, they said. Faced with private pressure from some of his cabinet colleagues to loosen controls on capital spending, Clegg said deficit reduction laid the foundations for growth and no shortcuts existed. He went on to claim the government was right “to pull the economy back from the brink” and said the recovery was fragile. “In the last few days alone, we have seen a financial storm in the eurozone, rising unemployment, falling stock markets,” he said. “It is clearer now than ever that deficit reduction was essential to protect the economy, to protect homes and jobs. Deficit reduction lays the foundations for growth. Handing control of the economy to the bond traders: that’s not progressive. Burying your head in the sand: that’s not liberal. Saddling our children with the nation’s debt: that’s not fair.” The speech was designed to map a route for the Lib Dems in government, with Clegg claiming that the party – still floundering at 10% in the polls – would eventually gain respect from centrist voters for acting in the national interest. The Lib Dems had “moved from the easy promises of opposition to the invidious choices of government”. Uniquely, he said, the party stood up against a trinity of vested interests: media moguls, union barons and greedy bankers. Clegg also bluntly admitted how hard choices in government had been for him: “None of us could have predicted how tough government would be. We’ve lost support, lost councillors, and we lost a referendum. I know how painful it has been to face anger and frustration on the doorstep. Some of you may have even wondered: will it all be worth it in the end?” He also addressed the anger still felt in the country and among Lib Dems over the party’s “heart-wrenching” decision to treble tuition fees in breach of its manifesto promise. “Like all of you, I saw the anger. I understand it. I felt it. I have learned from it. And I know how much damage this has done to us as a party,” he said. “Probably the most important lesson I have learned is this: no matter how hard you work on the details of a policy, it’s no good if the perception is wrong. We failed to properly explain the dilemmas. We failed to explain that there were no other easy options. And we have failed so far to show that the new system will be much, much better than people fear.” He claimed, nevertheless, that the party “had proved something about ourselves last year, when we faced a historic choice – whether or not to enter government in coalition with the Conservatives. “The easy thing would have been to sit on the opposition benches throwing rocks at the government as it tried to get control of the public finances. It might even, in the short run, have been more popular, but it would not have been right. At that moment, Britain needed a strong government.” In a reference to the political rows disabling the US, Clegg said: “While other countries have been riven by political bickering, we have shown that a coalition forged in a time of emergency could be a different kind of government, governing differently.” In a series of attacks on Labour, he described Ed Balls and Ed Miliband as “the backroom boys at the time when Labour was failing to balance the books, failing to regulate the financial markets, and failing to take on the banks”. “The two Eds, behind the scenes, lurking in the shadows, always plotting, always scheming, never taking responsibility. At this time of crisis what Britain needs is real leadership. This is no time for the backroom boys,” he said, adding that people should “never, ever trust Labour with our economy again”. His aides said this did not mean he was ruling out working with Labour for ever in the future. Clegg called Ed Miliband’s claim to be the enemy of vested interest risible when the unions had been able to “buy themselves” a party. He challenged Miliband to back proposed reforms to the party funding system due to be published shortly by Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of standards in public life. “We are all stuck in a system that we know is wrong,” he said. “We’ve all been damaged by it. But if we learned anything from the expenses scandal, it is surely that, if the system’s broken, we should not wait for the next scandal. We should fix it, and fix it fast.” He ended by telling delegates: “Hold your heads up and look our critics squarely in the eye. “Never apologise for the difficult things we are having to do. We are serving a great country at a time of great need. There are no shortcuts, but we won’t flinch.” Nick Clegg Liberal Democrat conference 2011 Liberal-Conservative coalition Liberal Democrat conference Liberal Democrats Economic policy Economic growth (GDP) Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk