• Home
• UK Politics
• World Politics
• Policy
• Media
• Lifestyle
• Sport
• Contributors
• Topics

This Is Nick Clegg’s Big Opportunity

Chris Bowers believes that now is the time for Nick Clegg to take control, and help introduce "restorative justice".

By Chris Bowers

19 Aug 2011, 14:00

No doubt it’s somewhat tasteless to see the riots as a massive opportunity for someone – a bit like viewing a plague as a golden era for undertakers.  But on the basis that the political consequences of the August 2011 riots are never far from the surface, this has to count as a golden opportunity for Nick Clegg.

Normal standards appear not to have accompanied Clegg on his political journey so far.  Even before the ridiculously inflated balloon of ‘Cleggmania’ in April 2010, the Liberal Democrat leader’s rise to prominence was rapid, in fact May’s AV referendum was arguably the first election he has ever lost.

Researching and writing ‘Nick Clegg: The Biography’ (out this month), I was struck by how his rise to power, culminating in becoming Deputy Prime Minister at the age of 43, had left him hopelessly underprepared in experience terms for the roller-coaster ride that hits all politicians when they enter government.  Add to that the fact that he’s a leading figure in an unknown form of power-sharing (at least unknown in this country in peacetime), leading a party that has spent much of its energy fighting the Tories, and at a time of severe economic crisis, and he was almost on a hiding to nothing.

As such, his fall from the highs of Cleggmania to the vilification and demonisation he has suffered over the past year is hardly surprising.  He can also be forgiven for having kept a relatively low profile over the past few months, hoping the public will gradually recognise that he’s neither the saint nor the demon he’s been portrayed as, but a politician with strengths and weaknesses having to deal with a very difficult situation.

But somewhere down the track, he needs to emerge from this low profile and make a stand on something, preferably – for the sake of his party – on an issue that puts clear water between himself and the Conservatives.  In the biography, I speculate as to what Clegg’s big initiative could be.  He’s very big into family, so one obvious option is a cross-party initiative on establishing grandparents’ rights that would carry his name.

But the riots present arguably a much bigger opportunity for the Lib Dem leader.

His first tentative step was this week’s initiative to get convicted rioters who aren’t given custodial sentences to face up to the damage they’ve caused, and clean it up.  It’s a moderately safe way to bring in the concept of ‘restorative justice’, an idea much beloved of liberals and penal reformers.  But Clegg could go a lot further.

It hasn’t been easy working out what the causes of the riots have been, and a reliable picture may not emerge for several months.  But one of the recognisable undercurrents appears to be the alienation many of the perpetrators – and particularly their followers – feel from the sense of community that many of us take for granted.  Any action to tackle the causes of the riots will have to incorporate some effort to ensure everyone ultimately feels they belong to a community that is part of broader society, rather than a gang or sub-group that can easily turn lawless.

Clegg’s political credo is defined by optimism.  He has spoken of liberalism as ‘an optimistic creed’, he frequently points out that no child is born bad or angry, and education is the driving force behind his political involvement.  His predecessor as MP for Sheffield Hallam, Richard Allan, says the preamble to the Liberal Democrats’ constitution that says ‘none shall be enslaved by poverty or ignorance’ sums up why Clegg is in politics.

Clegg’s belief in early years education (3-7-seven-year-olds) was one of the reasons he and the Lib Dems got sucked into the tuition fees morass.  They believe what is stopping kids from poorer backgrounds going to university isn’t primarily higher education funding mechanisms but a lack of opportunity further down the age scale.  Hence the headline Lib Dem policy at the last election of introducing a ‘pupil premium’, and Clegg’s and Vince Cable’s focus on protecting funding for further education (16-18-year-olds), a strategy that got totally overshadowed by their concessions on university tuition fees.

This ethos chimes with the community-based child-centred initiatives that have garnered so much attention since the riots broke out, for example the ‘Kids Company’ and ‘The Place2Be’ charities set up by the inspirational Camila Batmanghelidjh in London.  If Clegg can summon up some high-profile initiative to tackle the causes of community alienation, he would be doing something to – to coin a phrase – tackle the causes of crime, and be seen to be putting liberal thinking at the centre of government action.

He is better suited to making this his territory than David Cameron, whose ‘criminality pure and simple’ explanation may come to look hopelessly simplistic.  But Clegg faces real competition from Ed Miliband, who has called for understanding of the rioters.  It’s as important for Clegg to show he’s effective as the coalition’s conscience, as it is for Miliband to show Labour under him is more than just a modern Conservative party with a bit more social awareness.

Even if Clegg finds his opportunity, it won’t necessarily be easy to seize.  The first 15 months of the coalition have been characterised by a relative unwillingness among the media to publicise Lib Dem successes in government – media coverage of the concessions gained by the Lib Dems on the NHS reforms pales in comparison with the splashing of the tuition fees issue last autumn.

But there will come a time when Clegg’s PR people will need to take the bull by the horns and do something that forces the media to give their man a profile.  It will never be as high as it was during Cleggmania – nor would they want it to be, as the fall from such artificial heights is so dramatic.  But it would help establish the Lib Dem leader – indeed his entire party – as the social guardian of the coalition government, rather than just the giver of authorisation for swingeing cuts to public spending.

Chris Bowers is author of ‘Nick Clegg: The Biography’, published this month by Biteback, £17.99