Clegg: The New Order

"Power may justly be compared to a great river. While kept within its due bounds it is both beautiful and useful. But when it overflows its banks, it is then too impetuous to be stemmed; it bears down all before it and brings destruction and desolation wherever it comes. If, then, this is the nature of power, let us at least do our duty, and like wise men who value freedom use our utmost care to support liberty, the only bulwark against lawless power, which in all ages has sacrificed to its wild lust and boundless ambition the blood of the best men that ever lived...."

Andrew Hamilton, The Trial of John Peter Zenger, 1735

This evening Nick Clegg gave the Hugo Young Lecture, the text of which can be read here. 

Discussing "progressive politics" Clegg said:

"The need to make choices is revealing an important divide between old progressives, who emphasize the power and spending of the central state, and new progressives, who focus on the power and freedom of citizens. For new progressives, the test is not the size of the state, it is the relationship between the state and the citizen."

He therefore admits, right at the beginning of his speech, that he is in fact an old progressive, by his belief in government central control of funds and policy, the fact he is not concerned about the size of the state and his adherence to the creed expounded by the European Union.

Clegg continues:

"For now, just let me say that while old progressives instinctively hoard power to the nation state, the new progressive approach is intrinsically internationalist on issues such as Europe, migration, trade and foreign aid."

Well that answers why he believes in our membership of the European Union, anyway. It also shows that he no longer believes in his own country as a self-governing nation and has no pride in his country.

Do go read the whole speech as it is so riddled with contradictions, it becomes laughable. Were I to attempt 'fisking' the contents of this speech, I would be still at the keyboard tomorrow morning! The final irony comes when Clegg quotes John Stuart Mill:

"A State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes -- will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished."

Which is exactly why Cameron and Clegg will discover, to their cost and at our expense, that their ideas are unworkable and that their vision for a state of unbounded size - and one that decides what liberties we may be granted - will mean that our nation and us, all remain "small men" who will never be able to accomplish great things!