Mary Reid

A couple of weeks ago, along with some of the Lib Dem Bloggers of the Year, I interviewed Chris Huhne (And is there Huhne still for tea) over tea and a box of doughnuts kindly provided by Millennium Elephant's Daddy Richard. 

Today Nick Clegg admitted that he was more nervous about meeting party bloggers than the world's press (or something like that) and even brought us tea and coffee himself. But no favouritism here, and he was duly treated to doughnuts as well.

I've chosen this photo of Nick because it captures his characteristic hand gestures. This is a man of high energy, who speaks fast and thinks on his feet. His commitment to Liberalism is unquestionable, not least because of his palpable enthusiasm for its core principles.

But he wants to shift politics away from the conventional issues that the other two parties fight over, and to lead Liberal Democrats in campaigns on those things that matter to the people of this country.

When challenged to name two policies that would, in his words, take the party 'out of its comfort zone', he first mentioned housing. When he came back to this later he cited the main priorities of the public as security/terrorism, and immigration.

He believes that the Parliamentary party has become unduly preoccupied with Westminster politics; instead MPs should be using their resources to campaign locally, and to co-ordinate local with national campaigns.

As with Chris I asked him about how he would develop a distinctively Liberal Democratic approach to participation in local government. He responded by pointing to the good practice already found in Lib Dem controlled authorities, all of which help to humanise bureaucracy. Transparency in decision making and devolution to areas (aka Neighbourhoods) are the driving principles here.

Many other questions were asked:

Does he support education vouchers? - no, because he supports the Liberal Democrat policy of giving pupil premiums to schools who attract the poorest children, rather than indiscriminate parental entitlement.

Would he abolish the monarchy? - it's 'not the top job', and has evolved into a benign position, so there is no merit in attacking it.

Given our liberalism, what would he like to ban? - adverts during children's TV programmes.

What about cannabis? - we should not point at any one drug; instead all drug classifications should be reviewed, based on scientific evidence about the harm they do, and this should include legal drugs (alcohol and nicotine) as well as illegal drugs.

How do we support diversity within the party? - we must be a party of contemporary Britain; he is proposing an Academy which will support and train aspiring Lib Dem politicians from all sections of the community.

Nick reserved his greatest passion for foreign affairs. He believes that Liberal Democrats truly have something fresh to say, and we must be an internationalist party. In contrast, "Cameron and Brown are extraordinarily parochial politicians." Atlanticism has let us down and the UK has become a "vassal state of the Pentagon". Labour has very quietly signed up to the Son of Star Wars, to which Putin has responded by placing ballistic weapons in Kaliningrad, surrounded by EU states.

We should respond to recent shifts in international power, with the realignment of Pacific and Asian countries and the emergence of new countries like Brazil. And we should recognise that the transition of Eastern European countries to liberal democracies has been an understated achievement of the European community.

I'm still undecided - and given the access I've had to both candidates, that just shows how difficult the decision is going to be for the whole party. The flip side is that either candidate will make an excellent leader, provided each draws fully on the talents of the other. I will spend a couple more days pondering before making up my mind.

So, here are the bloggers, and links to their blogs....

From left, Linda Jack, me, Richard Flowers with Millenium Elephant, Nick Clegg MP, Alex Wilcock, James Graham, Paul Walter.

Linda Jack has been blogging intensively in support of Nick Clegg, so it will be interesting to read her take on today's conversations.  Later  And here they are: Pride, Shame, Nick Clegg and the Bloggers' Breakfast and I will say this only ..... 3 MILLION TIMES .... I don't support School Vouchers

The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant, has not yet spoken (through Richard Flowers) but I always appreciate his insouciant way of exposing the truth. Later  And here he goes: Day 2514: The Leadership Interview... Nick Clegg meets Millennium (and some other people)

Alex Wilcock, on Love and Liberty, wrote an excellent analysis of the leadership contest last night.

James Graham has already posted on Quaequam Blog! and has since updated it to give a very comprehensive account of the interview: (come to think of it, actually, a bit) EXCLUSIVE: Nick Clegg talks to Quaequam Blog! (finished at last)

Paul Walter has kicked off his Liberal Burblings on Nick Clegg with Nick Clegg up close. More to come... Later  And here it is: Nick Clegg - potentially a great leader of our party (interesting reading from a Chris Huhne supporter)