Sigh of relief
Clegg will not welcome yet another comparison with David Cameron but I thought that his debut at PMQs had many of the qualities of the early Cameron. He looked confident, sounded reasonable, avoided the "Punch and Punch" show and picked a topic, , that is of concern to ordinary people.
The measure of success today was merely walking out of the chamber unscathed. He did more than that. Even though he failed to make much of an impact in the Commons chamber but looked and sounded good on TV.
A sigh of relief then for him and the Lib Dems who must have smiled at the attempts by Messrs Brown and Cameron to be nice to their leader - aware that he could easily hold the key to which of them is in Downing Street after the next election. Brown told the Commons that during private meetings with Clegg he'd said there was "always an open door" to discuss issues. Cameron declared "I wish you well" before adding "although not that well".
Of more consequence than all this, however, was the prime minister's refusal once again to say that he favoured compulsory ID cards. There is normally a reason why politicians as experienced as Gordon Brown won't answer straight questions - particularly when they're posed three times in a row. Is Brown having second thoughts about going to the electorate promising that the government which lost the vital data of 25 million people will now force us all to pay for ID cards?
I'm 
Comments
Yes.
I can understand making charges for a voluntary card scheme but the charge for a compulsory ID card will be a new Poll Tax. Doesn't anyone remember what happened last time somebody tried one of those?
If the Government is convinced of the benefits of compulsory ID cards they should fund them from taxation, reducing the cost since taxes are cheaper to collect and harder to avoid.
Of course he's having second thoughts about telling us we are all going to have to have ID cards. Especially as more and more of us are saying we don't want them. But that doesn't mean he's not still going to make sure that we all do have one.
So, the Liberal Democrats have wound back their clay pigeon shooter with Clegg in the holder and called "Pull!" One waits with wry amusement for the Prime Minister to arise and the Labour backbenches to shout "Bang!" Inevitably, Cameron will look sideways and the Conservatives will shout "Next!"
Personally, I prefer real meat in my politics.
Nick, can you give links to the transcripts of relevant pieces of information please?
For example;
Or to put it another way: Forcing law-abiding citizens to take a day off work and report to the police station to be fingerprinted like common criminals, then hand over £50, will not be quite the vote-winner that Labour thinks -- particularly now that a majority is opposed to the scheme.
I am surprised that you are still running the "Brown won't commit on ID cards" line, Nick . It was understandable (just) that you had missed what GB had actually said, given the usual rowdyness in the House. After all you weren't the only one - only Baroness Symonds (?) of those in the Daily Politics studio seemed to have been paying much attention. But I would have expected you to have checked the record by now.
Brown was asked whether it was still government policy eventually to make ID cards compulsory. He said "That is the policy" - but went on to add the truthful proviso that such compulsion would be dependent on a vote in the House. What is unclear about that?
What really was unclear was Cameron's failure to say whether Tory policy was in favour of compulsory ID cards for foreigners . He said that "of course" they wanted biometric visas for visitors; but unless things have changed since I had any involvement with such matters a visa is not an ID card. Does his general opposition to compulsory ID cards extend to foreigners?
Given how quickly the encryption on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD has been hacked, I don't see how anyone could believe that ID cards will remain secure for long, either.
And I realise that passports aren't exactly secure either, but no-one builds policy on a pretence that they are. Well, I hope no-one does...
I think Clegg did a very good job today. He picked an issue which affects everyone and he stuck to it. He also looked confident and traded facts and the electorate's feelings - not barbs like we usually see between Cameron and Brown.
It would be interesting to see whether Brown makes a U-turn on ID cards. It would be a popular move. It would also remove the ability of David Cameron to attract Lib Dem voters as easily. By doing this, he splits the opposition vote and cosies up to Clegg.
I didn't see Nick Clegg's debut in the House so I can't comment, but wish him well in his new position.
But instead of fuel prices - which he can't do anything about - I would like to have seen him ask the PM about something that he can do something about.
On January 4th there was a letter in the Daily Telegraph from Sir Patrick Cable-Alexander, Chief Executive at the Institute of Optometry questioning Government policy that has consistently refused to finance detailed eye examinations for specific learning difficulties.
This policy is a flagrant breach of the Human Rights Act 1998.
The relevant protocol from the European Convention of Human Rights is as follows:
Protocol 1 - right to property, education and free elections
Article 1 provides for the rights to the peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions. Article 2 provides for the right not to be denied an education and the right for parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and other views.
The direct result of this policy? Half a billion down the drain on 'no child left behind' style literacy drives; our institutions of higher learning awash with students with a statement of needs for 'dyslexia'; and thousands of British children being labelled with an emotional construct such as ADHD and put on powerful medication without first being tested for an underlying organic problem that can be corrected.
(Kids can't read because they are physically unable to read even though the basic eye test suggests they have perfect eyesight. Under-par neuron transmitters, and the resultant lack of the fixation necessary to read with ease are only picked up via a specific learning difficulties assessment, hence Sir Patrick's frustration).
If Nick Clegg is serious about breaking the mould of British politics then he could do worse than start here. It's an open goal with a very nervous Government defence. It will be interesting to see if he can rise to his leadership election rhetoric and recognise it as such.
For years I've been telling my Labour MP that I have, and will continue to, "defect" to the abhorred Tories principally on the issue of ID Cards and detention without trial. Her latest response was to ask a question of a Minister. This resulted in a Ministerial answer that insulted my intelligence - and I suspect my MP's too.
Martha Nussbaum wrote a thought-provoking book "Hiding from Humanity". It should be compulsory reading for those in Government whose apparent fear of their own animal nature stimulates their jaundiced view of the rest of society as being in need of tight control.
The known lesson they risk re-learning one day is that people denied their basic human needs of individuality, and privacy, will eventually become uncontrollable in an out-pouring of civil dissent.
After the loss of the data of 25 million people, the posters on 'Have Your Say' made it abundantly clear that the idea of compulsory ID cards should be strangled at birth. It must be remembered that these innocent-looking pieces of plastic were to contain FIFTY-SEVEN pieces of information about us - some of it pretty sensitive - and that number is just for starters..! I cannot imagine for a second this 'control freak' government leaving it at that..
Maybe, just maybe, politicians read these comments after all, Nick...
I must say I thought Clegg was decidedly average. Reading from a page, he showed none of the wit of Vince Cable or the radicalism most commentators agreed should be his strategy.
So will the Tories reduce fuel tax? Or will they give massive wage increases?
Where will the money come from?
Is boy Clegg making the same initial mistakes as boy Dave,(better known as Black Wednesday adviser 1992?)
'Is Brown having second thoughts about going to the electorate promising that the government which lost the vital data of 25 million people will now force us all to pay for ID cards?'
Nicely put. Identity cards sound wonderful in theory and it's easy to imagine ministers and their senior civil servants and police officers swooning over consultants' powerpoint presentations on the topic. At last – a completely foolproof way of controlling everything and everybody! It’s a bureaucrat’s wet dream.
But back here in the real world - in which massive IT projects almost invariably fail, always cost ten times what’s anticipated, the government has lost our trust (particularly so far as data security is concerned) and the bad guys can find a million ways around any 'system' that’s put in their way - the whole thing stinks.
Scrap it now, Mr Brown, while there's still time for people to forget your government ever supported this insane project.
(To be honest, and between ourselves I'd rather that you hung on to crazy ideas like this until the next election so that we can use them against you. Whichever option you choose we win. You must really hate that. Sorry!)
I certainly hope he is having second thoughts otherwise the poll tax disobedience response will look like a storm in a teacup.
I wonder if Brown will try to scrap ID cards and put it under the heading of 'listening to the people' to try and score some political points? Might be worth a gamble if his poll ratings don't improve.