This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24137394

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Nick Clegg tells Lib Dems: Be proud of record in government Put us back in government in 2015, Nick Clegg says
(35 minutes later)
The abuse Liberal Democrats have faced for governing with the Conservatives was all worth it, Nick Clegg has said. Nick Clegg has urged the British people to put the Liberal Democrats back in government in 2015 to curb the excesses of the Tories or Labour.
The Lib Dem leader urged conference delegates in Glasgow to be proud now it is "a party of government" and helping to turn Britain around. "We are the only party that can finish the job of economic recovery, but finish it fairly," he told the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow.
He will repeat his attacks on both Labour and the Conservatives, saying the worst thing the UK could do would be to elect either of them in 2015. After three years of coalition Britain was now a "step closer" to the death of single party government, he claimed.
And he is to talk about his "private school, home counties" upbringing. He also spoke at length about his family and personal values.
Aides to the deputy prime minister said it would be the first time he had used a set-piece speech to draw so personally on his own background. In a speech aimed at preventing the Conservatives from claiming all the credit for the economic upturn, Mr Clegg said Lib Dem policies such as infrastructure spending and more apprenticeships had made all the difference.
'Finish the job' 'Values and beliefs'
The party has been keen to stress what it describes as the "confident mood" of the annual conference. "The big question mark that has always hung over the Liberal Democrats - could we handle government? And handle it when the going got tough? - that question mark is now gone.
Mr Clegg's speech comes on the final day of the gathering, which has seen the party vote to back the government's economic programme. "This recovery wouldn't be happening without us."
"This recovery wouldn't be happening without us. We have made sure the deficit is being cut at the right pace," he is expected to say. He said Lib Dems had proved wrong the critics who said coalition would never work - but he also looked ahead to the next election, saying that "left to their own devices" Labour or the Tories would "mess it up".
He will insist only a coalition government "can keep the country on the right path". Speaking openly about forming a power sharing deal with the two bigger parties - something he avoided doing before the last election - he said: "Labour would wreck the recovery. The Conservatives would give us the wrong kind of recovery."
Following the party's decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives after the 2010 election, membership fell from 65,038 to 42,501. But he stressed that the Lib Dems were "no-one's little brother", adding: "We have our own values and beliefs."
It has since struggled in the polls, trailing in fourth place behind UKIP in some. The speech contained no new policies, following Tuesday's headline-grabbing announcement on free lunches for all children in their first three years at school in England.
Mr Clegg will acknowledge that entering a coalition was not universally popular, saying: "Every insult we have had to endure since we entered government - every snipe, every bad headline, every blow to our support - that was all worth it, because we are turning Britain around." Saying Lib Dems would extend the scheme to all primary school children, he said: "Their (the Conservatives) priority is to help some families over others, with a tax break for married couples.
The Lib Dem leader is open about going into the next general election looking not to win, but to form another coalition.
He is asking voters to support the party on the basis they would temper a "single-party government".
"Labour would wreck the recovery, the Conservatives would give us the wrong kind of recovery. Only the Liberal Democrats can finish the job and finish it in a way that is fair," he will say.
'Best start'
He will use the government announcement of free meals for the youngest pupils in England to draw a dividing line with his coalition partners.
Saying Lib Dems would extend the scheme to all primary school children, he will add: "Their priority is to help some families over others, with a tax break for married couples.
"That tells you everything you need to know about their values.""That tells you everything you need to know about their values."
By contrast, he will say his party is helping "young children get the best possible start in life, and that tells you everything about ours". By contrast, he said his party was helping "young children get the best possible start in life, and that tells you everything about ours".
The Lib Dem leadership have seen off challenges from activists to its nuclear weapons and economic policies, although delegates voted for a review of housing benefit rules - what critics call the "bedroom tax".The Lib Dem leadership have seen off challenges from activists to its nuclear weapons and economic policies, although delegates voted for a review of housing benefit rules - what critics call the "bedroom tax".
And he scoffed at suggestions that coalition was all about personal chemistry between the party leaders, saying any coalition depended on the result of the election.
The party of 'in'
In what will be seen as a hint that he is thinking of stepping down after the next election, he told activists in Glasgow that he "will not be in politics forever".
But he used the speech to set out how his liberal values came to be formed, his "privileged" childhood and his "internationalist" outlook.
He said the Lib Dems had always backed "home rule" for Scotland but would be urging a "no" vote in next year's independence referendum to keep the UK together.
But he hoped the cross-party consensus would continue after the referendum to push for "the next advance in Scottish devolution".
And he said the Lib Dems would be the party of "in" when it came to an EU referendum.
Summing up what his pitch would be at the next election, he said: "In the past the Liberal Democrats would eke out an existence on the margins of British politics.
"Now we hold the liberal centre while our opponents head left and right. I have spent my entire life watching the other two mess it up. We cannot stand idly by and let them do it all over again."