Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has told how he searched his conscience over the coalition's spending cuts.

The Liberal Democrat leader said he found that putting through the measures was "morally difficult".

But, appearing on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he said there were no "pain-free alternatives".

Mr Clegg's music choices included David Bowie and Schubert and he admitted he was a secret smoker, choosing a "stash of cigarettes" as his luxury item.

Speaking about the cuts, he said: "I have spent every day of this process, pretty well every minute of this process, asking myself whether there are pain-free alternatives, whether we are doing the right thing, and I genuinely believe there is no easy alternative.
'Not hide'

"I have certainly searched long and hard into my own conscience about whether what we are doing is for the right reasons.

"I am not going to hide the fact that a lot of this is difficult. I find it morally difficult. It is difficult for the country."

On his luxury item for the desert island, Mr Clegg said: "I have a confession to make which is I do like the occasional cigarette....

"I can just imagine as the sun's going down and you know I've got the beard flowing down to my knees and I'm thinking what on earth am I going to, you know, while away the time... puffing away on a cigarette would be quite nice.

"I know I'm not supposed to say this because it's a terrible thing. And I hope my children don't hear this programme because they don't even know that I smoke."

Mr Clegg added he drank very little alcohol, "next to nothing".

When presenter Kirsty Young suggested that Mr Clegg was looking "very tired and very worn down by it all", he joked that it was down to "a combination of work and small children".

As well as Bowie's Life on Mars, Mr Clegg's discs included Sunday Morning Coming Down by Johnny Cash, The Cross by Prince, and 2010 World Cup theme Waka Waka by Shakira.

He also plumped for Idil Biret playing Chopin's Waltz in A Minor, and Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major played by Alfred Brendel.

If he could only have one record, Mr Clegg said he would opt for Schubert.

His book was The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.

Nick Clegg's Desert Island Discs

1. Idil Biret playing Chopin's Waltz in A Minor

2. Johnny Cash and Sunday Morning Coming Down

3. Prince and The Cross

4. Cesaria Evora and Petit Pays

5. Radiohead and Street Spirit

6. David Bowie and Life on Mars

7. Shakira and Waka Waka the theme to the 2010 World Cup

8. Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major played by Alfred Brendel

Book: The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Luxury: A stash of cigarettes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11614537

Here's a notion Mr Clegg. Get Vincey baby to go after Vodafone, Tesco, and anyone else who's sneakily avoiding billions in tax. Oh, and fix the bloody loopholes that are allowing them to do it

Searched conscience and realsied he didn't have one?

Searched his conscience then though 'F!ck it, I'm a millionaire, I'll be alright'.

You know the really terrible thing about it all? This was the one chance the libdems had to show they were actually worth the trouble of being around. That they actually served some purpose. They've utterly, totally failed. Everybody now knows they said whatever they needed to say to get into the coalition and have done nothing to rein in the Tories since they got there. They're going to get destroyed in elections for the next 10 years and I'd be rather surprised if they even exist at the end of it. What a bunch of idiots.

+1, everything was in alignment for them, and they blew it

I don't know - a lot of the coalition agreement consisted of Lib Dem policy, the most notable of which is raising the income tax threshold to £10,000.

The fact is the Labour government racked up record levels of debt and a mountain of a budget deficit, and the party had to end sooner or later. I personally think the coalition is doing the right thing by favouring spending cuts over tax rises.

I have noticed that the Tories like wheeling out Lib Dem MPs to make the more horrid announcements, but overall I think because of the Lib Dems things are much better than they would otherwise have been.

That's not to say I don't also think they'll be destroyed electorally, because they'll be blamed for the excesses of the Tories.

Indeed - searched conscience and remembered he'd sold it, along with his soul to the tories.

The problem is that he was much further to the right than his party. They are not happy about the coalitions decisions and I suspect that a leadership challenge might be more likely. The rest of the party leaving Clegg to be the sole remaining Liberal coalition candidate.

I can’t imagine that he has much say to be honest. He’s rapidly becoming the patsy for the Tories’ policies. I have a feeling that more problematic cracks will start to show next year as LibDem core values are seen to be further from the reality of the coalition’s actions that anticipated.

Cuts yes, but at this speed, no. The LibDems were in opposition to such quick cuts but as soon as they sniff power all of their ideology has gone out of the window. 'Oh, things are different now...'. That's what they all say.

What aspect, other than the tax threshold, have the LibDems held on to?

I shall never vote for them again and feel disgusted that I helped them gain power.

I now have nobody left to vote for.

One can only assume either the books were really dire when they took over (and that would be the first chance anyone outside the Labour government got to see them), or the Tories convinced them the cuts needed to be quicker. Either way, this whole coalition thing is a compromise and obviously the Lib Dems can't have everything. The Lib Dems are very much the minority partner in all this - making up only about 20% of the seats, it makes sense therefore that the Tories call most of the shots.

Both the markets and the IMF have reacted well to cuts, and Newsnight reported this week that the cost of UK borrowing post-CSR announcement is now lower than that of even Germany, despite slower growth. Others have even stated that the cuts might not be enough to bring the deficit to within the target by 2015, and that further cuts or tax rises will be needed. If we had followed Labour's slower plan instead (which doesn't differ by much), we'd be looking at paying £billions extra every year in interest on the huge amounts we'd need to borrow to fund public spending.

Public spending has gotten way out of control. Even with the coalition's cuts, it would return us to the same level of state spending as in 2007-2008, where government spending still made up an enormous 41% of GDP. Since then, under Labour, the state has grown and now accounts for over 50% of the economy. I'm sure you'll agree that's just not sustainable; much higher and we'd be looking at levels of government spending (as a proportion of the economy) approaching something you'd normally associate with a Communist state.



Lots of things, but scrapping ID cards & the ContactPoint database, the pupil premium, the referendum on voting reform and ending child detention are the ones that spring to mind.

Yes but that figure includes the Post Office and Network Rail. Then add in the nationalised banks and the figures are already distorted. Must of the banking sector could be considered nationalised so with a million employees in banks that alone could make up a sizeable chunk of the economy. Then you have to consider that the global financial crisis has significantly reduced the size of the private sector because of the reduction in asset values and profitability. So the recession alone could be responsible the apparent share of the public sector. Also cuts are easier to impose that taxes because government spending does not affect the rich as much because if the government trash the schools NHS they can still afford to send their kids to private schools and hospitals. Raising taxes is harder but that does not mean it should not be done. I think that it would be better to raise the basic rate of tax to 35% and eliminate many of the stealth taxes, like TV licenses, Insurance taxes, National insurance, hospital parking charges, tuition fees, road fund licence etc. Then increase the personal allowance as well. Overall the taxes would take the same share as before but it would maintain the services that people actually want but are told we cannot afford.

We're not including "nationalised" banks, but we are including the record £150bn borrowed by the Labour government. That's over 25% of the government's annual budget, which just isn't sustainable. The private sector has shrunk, as have tax receipts, which means either public spending must also fall, taxes must be levied to make up the shortfall or the money is borrowed until such time as the economy recovers. Due to years of profligacy under Labour, borrowing was not an option - even had the government been willing, the markets would have made it extremely painful. That left spending cuts or tax rises. The parties went to the polls, the majority of people voted for spending cuts (on the basis that the Tories won the most seats). Both the markets and the IMF have agreed this is the best course (as stated, the cost of UK borrowing is now lower than that of Germany, saving us a small fortune).

Besides, the most useful component of government spending in our situation is capital spending, which is an area of spending that has been ring-fenced by the government. Raising taxes instead of cutting spending also risks inhibiting growth, and I agree with the Chancellor's comments that increasing tax (such as income tax or national insurance) would be a blow to working people at a time when we should be encouraging people to work.

Even with the coalition's cuts you're looking at over a decade before public finances are returned to sanity. With Labour's plan to cut less, raise taxes and borrow the rest you're looking at paying exorbitant interest for decades to come (hence the children/debt comments).

As for the other taxes, some of them, such as road tax, also involve a useful regulatory function such as ensuring the vehicle has valid insurance and MOT certificates. The TV Licence also ensures the political, financial and editorial independence of the BBC.

Yes but neither the IMF or markets take social impact into consideration. There's also conflicting opinion within the markets as to how this experiment is going to pan out.

The bottom line is the poorest will get hit hardest, something I never believed would be a phase associated with the LibDems. I've had enough of making excuses for them. Their naivety at being played by the Tories so that they always seem to be the ones delivering any bad news is also extremely disappointing.

Oh and the ever "green" LidDems now seem to be going along with the selling off of 50% of our public forests. Nice.

Edit: Can someone finally explain to me why the rich and corporations aren't being chased for the £120billion in unpaid taxes? An explanation other than 'oh it's a bit tricky...'.

Am I the only person who has looked at the cuts and thought "fair enough".

I can see that they are harsh but after a decade of over spending and benefit rises to the point where you're better off sitting at home making children than going out working then that was unavoidable.

Can you honestly say that if taxes were put up that you wouldn't be complaining about it and saying "where were the spending cuts that were promised" and "these tax rises are unfair" etc...

No matter what the government did everyone would still be complaining about it.

+1