Nick Clegg talks to Attitude: 'I don't think Labour party's record is progressive'

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has questioned the Labour Party’s record as a progressive political force, saying he doesn’t think their record in government “bears that out at all”.

In a new interview with Attitude ahead of the general election, the Deputy Prime Minister shoots down the assertion that if people want a ‘progressive’ majority government, they should vote tactically for the Labour Party.

Photography: Joseph Sinclair

Asked what he would say to people considering voting for Ed Miliband’s party on May 7, Mr Clegg replies: “Well they didn’t do equal marriage, they didn’t do all the things that we’ve done. They presided over the mass incarceration of thousands of children. We ended that.

“Personally, as a progressive I find this idea that the Labour party is some haven of progressive practice extraordinary, for a party that invaded Iraq, shredded civil liberties, presided over the biggest economic crash in a generations and oversaw the continued destruction of our manufacturing.

“I’d question the premise that the Labour party’s record was such a progressive one; I just don’t think that the record of 13 years of Labour bears that out at all,” he adds.

“Actions speak louder than words, and I think the Liberal Democrats in government took the steps that the Labour party might have talked about but didn’t actually act upon.”

In a wide-ranging interview ahead of the general election, Attitude speaks to Nick Clegg about a range of LGBT issues, including mandatory sex education in schools, the treatment of LGBT asylum seekers and the state of the country’s HIV prevention budget.

We also speak to David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nigel Farage, Natalie Bennett and Nicola Sturgeon ahead of May’s vote in the new issue, which also includes interviews with Adam Lambert, David Beckham and Westlife’s Mark Feehily. The May issue is available to download to your mobile, iPad or tablet device now, at Pocketmags.com/Attitude.

It will be out in shops on Wednesday April 1, and you can also have it delivered directly to your door at newsstand.co.uk.

Nick Clegg talks to Attitude: ‘I don’t think Labour party’s record is progressive’

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