Conservative pact temporary — Clegg

London: Nick Clegg has sought to reassure his anxious party that the Liberal Democrat identity is secure by promising there will be no electoral pact with the Conservatives and holding out the prospect of a coalition deal with Labour after the next election.

During a sometimes uneasy hour-long question and answer session with delegates on the first full day of the party's conference yesterday, the Lib Dem leader refused to give ground on the running of the coalition.

He insisted that he would not manufacture synthetic rows with the Conservatives simply to raise his party's progressive identity.

He also admitted he was under constant pressure from friends and colleagues to pick a fight with the prime minister, David Cameron, and to show the extent to which his party was distinct from the Conservatives.

Discussing the spending cuts he also conceded that "people are starting to believe a lot of this hype that we are imposing these things for a swivel-eyed ideological zeal overnight".

Identity crisis

In his set piece speech to conference, he emphasised the temporary nature of the coalition by telling his party: "The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are, and always will be, separate parties with distinct histories and different futures. But for this parliament we work together to fix the problems we face and put the country on a better path. That is the right government for now."

Explanation

He also restated the case for entering into coalition: "People have got used to us being outsiders against every government that comes along. Maybe we have got used to it ourselves. But the door to change we want was opened, for the first time in most of our lifetimes. Imagine if we had turned away. How could we ever have asked the voters to take us seriously again?"

In a sign of the unease on the left that the party is being squeezed, in terms of visibility and its poll rating, the former Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris wrote in the Guardian: "We need closer identification of Lib Dems in parliament, in the media and in government with those coalition plans that are Lib Dem-inspired and conversely some distancing from Tory-imposed policies."

He also urged his party to take a leaf out of the Tory right's book by communicating unhappiness about illiberal policies.

The remarks calling for greater Lib Dem ownership of policies do not represent a revolt, however, but more of a warning shot that the party has to work harder to maintain its distinctive identity.