Nick Clegg speaking to Metro journalists Joel Taylor and Sharon Loughe (Picture: Lucy Young)

The Lib Dem leader keeps it casual as we join him on the campaign trail in Sutton for an interview – he even went to pull out his undies to show us the label

What have been your biggest achievements during the last five years, and what’s your biggest regret?

The biggest achievement is helping to rescue the British economy, there’s no way we would have the economic recovery we’ve got if we hadn’t stepped up to the plate. Memories are short – we could have been Greece.

Our deficit was almost as bad as Greece’s in 2010. Our banking crisis was considerably worse, and what makes me so proud is we’ve done it much more fairly than the Conservatives would have done on their own.




Regret? Clearly the whole firestorm around tuition fees is one of my great regrets. I’m afraid even with the benefit of hindsight I can’t see easy alternatives.

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You’ve talked a lot about who the Lib Dems wouldn’t support in a future coalition, but if the mathematics of the result show there has to be a compromise, isn’t it your duty to talk?

No. There are things which I wouldn’t compromise on and one of them is: there is no way I would advocate any arrangement that leads to the break-up of either the UK or EU. What sets us apart is I’m not pretending the Liberal Democrats are going to win a majority. Poor Ed Miliband and David Cameron have to charge around the country constantly pretending something which they know is not going to happen.

That’s why you’ve got them thrashing around hopelessly, and why you’ve got this very real threat now of the shambles and instability of a hapless minority administration dancing to the tune of the right or the left.

With the two major parties struggling to reach 70 per cent in the polls, how long will it be before electoral reform is raised again?

I’m not the kind of person who asks the same question every week until I get the [right] answer. You have to respect the will of the people, no matter how disappointed I was at the time. But the failures of our electoral system are only becoming more and more obvious.

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Can you see yourself teaming up with parties like Ukip to campaign for this in the future?

My bitter experience is that you cannot trust Labour or Conservatives at all on constitutional reform. The Conservatives behaved shabbily during the referendum campaign [and] it was [Ed Miliband’s] policy on the wretched ballot paper and he didn’t lift a finger to help it. You’ve got to have them over a barrel before they actually will finally accept the clapped-out rules, which only benefit them, have to change.

Nick Clegg speaking to Metro journalists Joel Taylor and Sharon Loughe (Picture: Lucy Young)

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says your proposals are the most transparent, but also you plan to raise £10billion from uncertain measures against tax avoidance and evasion – more than the Conservatives or Labour. Is this realistic?



We think it is. The reason we are much more confident we can actually get that sum of money is that we are finally starting to cooperate effectively at an international level. You are not going to recoup that sum unless you work through the OECD, the EU, the G8, the G20, and that’s why it’s accelerating. That international cooperation is set to fire on all cylinders.

You’ve talked about raising mental health care to the status of physical health care. You made progress during the coalition, but why haven’t you gone far enough in the last five years?

We’ve done a huge amount, but it’s a mountain to climb. We’re having to counter generations of indifference or discrimination against people with mental health problems.

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The environment has barely registered in the election. Is there a lack of engagement on the issue?

We put the environment on the front page of our manifesto for a reason – because we believe in it. I’m very proud of our record. We’ve almost tripled the amount of consumer electricity from renewable sources, pushed for a very ambitious climate change deal in the EU, and I certainly don’t want it to be a footnote in this campaign. If you want a green MP, vote for the green party of government – the Liberal Democrats.

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg speaks (Picture: Lucy Young)

In a future coalition would you continue to block airport expansion?


We see no case for airport expansion, and certainly not in the way that is inconsistent with our international climate change obligations.

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Obviously we’ve had the horrendous disaster in the Mediterranean but we’re not going to be offering asylum.

That’s not true. We’ve accepted 3,000 applications from Syria, and obviously we have this resettlement programme for Syrians – particularly women and children – which is quite small at the moment but will get bigger. And I think we are duty-bound morally and legally to accept more.

Which Lib Dems from history would you like to be part of your team?

Gladstone. Good emphasis on sound money. Jo Grimond, maybe Violet Bonham Carter – she was a great liberal. That would make a formidable team.

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Is it a relief your party colours don’t clash with either [Sheffield] Wednesday or United?

It is quite. And even more of a relief that it doesn’t clash with Arsenal, who I support.

You remembered.

Yes, I certainly did!

Nick Clegg showing Metro journalist Sharon Loughe where his jumper is from (Picture: Lucy Young)

Sharon's Quickfire Corner You’re keeping it casual today – where do you get your jumpers from? Have a look! [leans over to reveal label] Gap! Most of what I wear is Gap or M&S I’m afraid! Actually I don’t know what this is [jokingly stretches out the back of his undies] Can I have a look? [Very panicked publicist: ‘No! We can get that info for you later!’] Do you shop? I hate shopping. I absolutely HATE shopping! I don’t leave it to my wife, though – I would never be so patronising to assume that Miriam’s going to buy clothes for me. There’s a Gap near where I live in Putney that I will go out to if I need to. But I’m not a great clothes shopper – I have a bit of an impatient side to my character that means I don’t like spending a lot of time trying on lots of clothes. Which is why I tend to wear the same thing! You speak five languages fluently – which is best to swear in, other than English? The Spanish have got some really fruity, really guttural spit-em-out swear words. they know how to swear! But I shan’t mention any! Miriam and I don’t tend to swear together in Spanish, but my brother-in-law – OH! Every second word. While I do speak other languages, in my view you only understand the precise severity of swearing in one language. There are very different gradations of swearing, and you can only understand that in your gut. My recommendation is: swear in other languages with great, great caution. Which subject were you worst at in school? I wasn’t great at chemistry. My teacher got so exasperated with our class he blew his top and said: ‘I’ve taught you all I know and yet you know nothing!’ Maybe that’s the reason my chemistry grades were not very good. Nick Clegg and Metro journalist Sharon Lougher having a laugh about his dislike of clothes shopping (Picture: Lucy Young) Do you ever contribute to your wife’s food blog? I will hold plates for photo shoots and possibly, occasionally, do a little bit of chopping and whisking, but Miriam is a spectacularly good cook and I am a spectacularly bad cook. You campaigned for healthy lunches in schools – what’s your favourite sandwich filling? Well, I love the Swedish meatball wrap from Pret, which is not very healthy at all. Oh, but I do also like their halloumi and falafel wrap. Are you going back to the biscuits and smoking after this campaign? I will try not to. The vagaries of non-smoking suggest to me that I shouldn’t be too. heaven knows what happened: for some reason I ended giving up a filthy habit I’ve had for 30 years in the middle of a very stressful election campaign. But it just happened like that. Are your children better than you at anything? Oh, anything on the computer. It’s unbelievable – the way they find their way round the online world is just extraordinary. If money was no object, what would be your dream car? I’m not really into cars, but I do like the look of – and this is very Lib Dem – the new hybrid electric Mitsubishi which does 30 miles electric, which seems a truly green electric car big enough to put the kids’ clobber in. What did you want to be when you were growing up? Not a politician, I can tell you that much. I grew up in the countryside and so I wanted to be some kind of intrepid explorer. I wanted to be outside all the time, and I do have a slight hankering to go on expeditions.

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NEXT UP: Nicola Sturgeon on Friday