Mandy: Clegg is the new Cameron
By Ian Dunt
Nick Clegg has become as arrogant as David Cameron, Peter Mandelson has claimed.
Speaking at a press conference in London, the business secretary labelled the Liberal Democrat leader as “arrogant”.
Mr Clegg has “started to exude the same sort of entitlement that we had previously associated with David Cameron and George Osborne,” Lord Mandelson insisted.
He went on to complain about the standard of debate in the general election campaign, and in particular the protracted row over a hung parliament.
The Conservatives spent most of yesterday calling for voters to prevent a hung parliament, while Mr Clegg has issued several statements hinting at who he would be willing to enter a coalition with.
“You’ll forgive me if we don’t start engaging on arcane academic theory based on hypothesis about the outcome of the election,” Lord Mandelson told gathered journalists this morning.
“We’ll leave that to Nick Clegg and George Osborne.”
The business secretary warned progressive voters in marginal Labour-Conservative constituencies not to vote Liberal Democrat for fear of letting the Conservatives in.
“If people flirt with the Liberal Democrats, if you flirt with Nick Clegg, in those crucial Labour marginals you’ll wake up with David Cameron, and worse, with George Osborne, William Hague and Eric Pickles as well,” he said.
“That’s something you would live to regret. I think you’d wake up thinking something has gone horribly wrong in your life.”
The comments come on the same day Labour tried to drag the election campaign back to policies after several days of speculation about a hung parliament after May 6th.
