Lib Dem Leader in Rochdale

Photo: Laura Wild

Nick Clegg plays pool at Rochdale Connections Trust

2 More Image(s) In Gallery

Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg MP, visited Rochdale today (Thursday 17 December) as part of his ‘Nick Meets’ sessions held at town halls across the country.

Before hearing what the people had to ask him, the party leader visited the staff and children at Rochdale Connections Trust, he spoke with the mentors about the work which they do and played pool with the children there.

The Sheffield MP was thrilled with the work carried out at the Trust, he said: “This is a way of picking youngsters up who are otherwise immensely vulnerable and making sure that every effort is made to turn their lives around. If anyone cares about the future of Rochdale, indeed the future of Britain then this kind of work I think is absolutely vital.”

Despite his busy schedule, Mr Clegg took time out to be interviewed by Rochdale Online; he told reporter Laura Wild he was looking forward to hearing the views of the people of Rochdale, he said: “I do these town hall meetings week in and week out and I absolutely love them. It is genuinely the side of my job I probably enjoy more than anything else.

“To get out of the bizarre Alice in Wonderland world of Westminster and actually talk to people who may have nothing to do with politics, who just want to shout at me, ask me questions, tell me what they are worried about or what they are happy about is a fantastic way for me keep in touch with what peoples everyday concerns are.

“After the expenses scandal I think that people are quite rightly furious and angry and frustrated with the rotten system of politics in Westminster they want something which is more direct and in a sense these town hall meetings are a return to slightly more traditional way of doing politics, which is face to face and that’s the kind of politics I enjoy.

Mr Clegg had a clear message for the voters of Rochdale for next year’s election, he said: “To see the so called mother of all parliaments turned into a laughing stock around the world, of course it makes people angry, but we shouldn’t throw the baby out of the bath water.

“If everyone just switches off completely and turns their backs on politics then how are we going to change anything? How are we going to make sure children have a better future, how will we make sure that we get fairer taxes – something I passionately believe in.

“The problem in Westminster are not just the expenses, it is the whole system. If you want a different kind of a politics then you have got to get stuck in.”

A big concern of Mr Clegg’s is the rising unemployment in young people, he explained: “Young people are in a real crisis, more and more young people have no jobs at all and that can blight their lives.

“I think we should be doing something in this country to invest in new houses, energy and transport to build future jobs for young people.

“All of these things will only happen if young people get involved and say this is what they want their politicians to do.”

When asked about trust, and why should voters trust Nick Clegg any more than they trust any other party leader, he said: “Judge us by our record, we are the only party to say no on the invasion of Iraq, only party four or five years ago to say the greed of bankers in London will get us into trouble, the only party to say the government is wrong to be spying on us, we were the only party to speak about the environment before anybody else did.

“In the last few months we have been the only party to raise questions about what is going on in Afghanistan and to talk about the needs of greater fairness in tax.

“Too often politics becomes about a fancy slogan or a sound bite, but actually the things that are really important are what the politicians values are and those values are shown by what you do and what judgements you make.

“Not all of the time, but most of the time our judgement has been on the side of the vast majority of the people in Rochdale and that is why Paul (Rowen MP) is such a popular and successful local MP.”

Following his very busy day, Nick Clegg moved onto the Town Hall for his ‘Nick Meets’ public meeting – report and photos online tomorrow (Friday 18 December).