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  1. Politics
20 September 2012

Even the Lib Dems can’t agree why they broke their fees pledge

Equalities minister Jo Swinson contradicts Clegg's tuition fees apology.

By George Eaton

In his tuition fees apology, Nick Clegg made it clear that he thought the Lib Dems shouldn’t have made the pledge in the first place. This was, he said, because there was “no money around”. I’ve already explained why he was wrong to use this defence, but it’s worth noting that not everyone in his party has got the message.

Earlier this afternoon, equalities minister Jo Swinson said:

Had we had enough seats to form a majority Liberal Democrat government, we would have implemented our manifesto.

If even the Lib Dems can’t agree why they broke their pledge, it’s hard to see why anyone should take them seriously.

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