Spending review: Clegg and Cameron face the music
By Ian Dunt
David Cameron and Nick Clegg are facing hostile questions from voters as the country tries to fully take in the details of the spending review.
Speaking to an audience of Heart 106 listeners in the East Midlands, the prime minister and deputy prime minister were beset with examples of how the spending review would hurt the most vulnerable.
One disabled woman told Mr Clegg: “You’re really picking on the weakest people in society. It’s completely unfair how you’ve applied these budget cuts.”
Mr Clegg said: “I understand people are very fearful. Fear is a very powerful emotion. It pushes everything aside.
“I ask people to have a little bit of perspective. We believe… that it is done as fairly as we possibly can, where the richest are genuinely paying the most.
“We’ve tried to make sure particularly the elderly and the young are protected.
“If people can just look at some of the variety of the announcements we’ve made, rather than respond to a totally understandable anxiety, they’ll see the picture is a lot more balanced.”
Mr Cameron added: “This is a coalition government that is going to help those who cannot help themselves.
“We’re going to get through it. This is still a great country. Our best years still lay ahead.”
On the issue of university funding, Mr Clegg admitted he felt “really bad” about signing a pledge promising to oppose an increase in tuition and then supporting it.
The prime minister and deputy prime minister rarely conduct events together since the now-famous rose garden press conference after the election.
But with concerns about the spending review dominating the news agenda, the two men appear intent on trying to settle concerns about the effects of the deficit reduction problem.
