Whatever he said, whatever he did, he didn’t mean it. Nick Clegg is still far from having supporters back for good. This week Big Debate asks, should we accept his apology?

‘YES’ : Joe Bilsborough
Not so long ago, a charming man – effervescent and eloquent – sauntered onto our television screens, promising a new kind of politics. How the mighty have fallen. Last week Nick Clegg, now roundly vilified, took to YouTube to proffer a belated apology for the rise in tuition fees. Long ago stripped of his messianic status, even his apology was met with disdain by many. Yet the extraordinary metamorphosis of Nick Clegg from hero to villain – engendered by the tuition fees furore – is a piece of political drama that serves only to distract from the real issues afflicting the nation. This apology should represent the end of the fees debacle: other issues deserve to be leant the prominent support of the student voice.
Ever since his initial rise to prominence, Clegg has elicited hysteria. For a fleeting moment he was adored, portrayed as young, inspired, statesmanlike. Like Icarus, he soared, the idealism of his rhetoric compounded by our own eager response. He reached his apex too soon; his wings failed to carry him to power. A bout of Cleggmania infected the nation, but this affliction was merely a flash in the pan. By election day our cynicism had recovered and we voted, in our droves, for the usual suspects in red or blue. Yet power had not eluded our friend Nickarus entirely. Though his wings were melted by The Sun, The Mail, et al, electoral mathematics delivered a coalition government, whisking Mr Clegg into the corridors of power. Initially all was well – things looked rosy for Nick and Dave in the Rose Garden – but since the passing of those halcyon days, criticising Clegg has become a national pastime as popular – and as ineffectual – as bashing the bankers.
Much of this hatred understandably stems from the issue of tuition fees. Many voters, students in particular, have turned against Clegg, infuriated by his decision to support the tripling of fees after pledging to abolish them entirely. Blinded by their rage, they have overlooked even more harmful policies passed in the interim.
The apology itself – a refreshingly honest mea culpa compared to the typically obfuscatory apologies of politicians – merely elongates the fees saga further. Discourse centres on Clegg and the unpopularity of a relatively niche policy, rather than on the work of the coalition as a whole. Once presented as the saviour of politics, Clegg is now treated with almost obligatory disdain and hatred, derided as a liar and a fraud, a political opportunist willing to forgo any and every principle he once espoused in a desperate pursuit of power. As compelling as this narrative may be, to focus on it draws attention away from more important issues.
Whilst the tuition fee rise is inequitable, it is not catastrophic. As before, your ability to attend university is dependent on your intellect and ambition, not the size of your bank balance. In these troubled times, there are more important issues to address than deciding whether or not to forgive Nick Clegg. Not only should his apology be accepted, it should equally be summarily disregarded.
The current condemnation of Clegg is an exercise in insularity. Nobody lauds the decision to raise fees, but now is the time to move onto bigger issues; demonise Clegg if you choose, but do so for his role in enforcing austerity and privatising the NHS. The injustices perpetrated by this coalition deserve to be opposed. The best way to do this is not by placing a disproportionate focus on fees whilst many – never given the chance to attend university at all – are preyed upon by the savage austerity agenda.

NO – John Briggs
Earlier this week Nick Clegg made a brief appearance in the download top forty with the ever so hilarious remix of his video apology to the nation, depressingly for those of us who backed the Liberal Democrats in 2010 this might just be the most influential position he has been in since then. Clearly we cannot accept his apology, because as his track record shows sincerity is by no means his strong suit.
Clegg’s list of failures is a lengthy one. He should have known that the pivotal role he played in the formation of the coalition was likely to be the most powerful place he would find himself in throughout this parliament. Therefore the concessions taken from the Tories should have been greater than those achieved. A series of important sounding offices for the party old guard may well have seemed impressive but with only a few concrete policy guarantees Clegg clearly underplayed what was undeniably a strong hand. The Conservatives had the lion’s share of the vote, but failed to exploit the possibility of dashing their hopes by threatening coalition with Labour.
A poor beginning could, perhaps, be forgiven if it had been followed by a tough line to protect the core interests of the Liberal Democrat party while in power, however time and again Clegg has failed at this charge. The most notorious case, painfully familiar to Leeds new Freshers, is the hike in tuition fees to £9000 a year. As a party a party of the (relative) left, and one that has traditionally found a high proportion of its support from amongst the student population this was an extraordinary move, never mind the pre-election promise that fees would remain at their original level. The decline in applications to university for 2012/13 says it all. The idea that, while the Liberal Democrats are in power, students should become unable to afford a university education due to changes made by the government should be repugnant to Clegg’s liberal ideals. The notion that the economic climate excuses this is completely misleading. The Liberal Democrats were aware of the situation going into the election; all that’s changed is that their lust for power has now been fully exposed.
Having jettisoned his student support base, Clegg then moved to abandon his commitments to enhance democracy by giving into Tory pressure on House of Lords reform. This, combined with the failed referendum on proportional representation represent the two real chances Clegg has been given to enhance democracy in the tired first past the post parliamentary system we still uphold in England. He failed in both circumstances. Both the referendum and the Lords reform bill suffered from grass roots opposition from the Conservative party and this is something which has plagued Clegg’s time in government. However if he is unable to exert any level of influence over the Conservative party, which is obviously the case, he should not be in government at all. By deciding to act as David Cameron’s ‘yes man’ for five years Clegg has made the Liberal Democrats unelectable.
To forgive Nick Clegg then, as he asks from the dizzy heights of the U.K top forty, is to forgive a man who has abandoned principle for power in a manner so shameless that it has destroyed has parties election hopes for years to come. According to YouGov’s latest poll only one in five accept Mr Clegg’s apology, so it’s no wonder that he was struggling to preach to the choir at this weeks’ party conference. It’s time he stepped down from the pulpit and returned to the stalls; after all he has musical pedigree if nothing else.