Yes, and we will remember yours Nick for a very long time..
In a brilliant demolition of the man in yesterday’s Daily Mirror, Tony Parsons says “Never in the history of political hypocrisy has a party leader so brazenly said one thing and then done exactly the opposite”:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/columnists/parsons/2010/12/11/lying-nick-clegg-is-the-whore-of-westminster-115875-22775146/#ixzz17oXFPs81
But let’s not be so surprised. For many philosophers, hypocrisy is a necessary part of politics and UK politics is riddled with the hypocrisy of compromise – the desire to survive eats away at most politician’s idealism until there is nothing left (assuming they actually had any in the first place). Political hypocrites like Clegg thrive on pretending to be who they are not.
By lying and deceiving others about what they really are, by saying one thing and then doing another, they feign sincerity whilst manipulating emotions in order to get elected and enjoy the trappings of power. Clegg’s deception is typified by the fact that he went as far as renting crowds to give the impression of genuine support:
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Clegg-paid-9000-to-39hire39.6654961.jp
All hypocrites have justifications which explain the lie or moral dilemma to themselves and we will see more examples from all the Lib Dem’s over the next days and weeks, aided and abetted by an embedded media. But as Tony Parsons says, it is right to keep protesting and UNISON should do all it can to support the students.
To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson “All hypocrisy needs to gain a foothold, is for people of good conscience to do nothing”