Is sorry good enough?

Nick Clegg has finally admitted in a quasi-apologetic statement (maintaining that the tuition fee rise was the right decision) that he was wrong to not stick to the promises his party made prior to the 2010 elections. The original promise of the Lib Dems was, of course that if elected, they would oppose any rise in fees. This was furthered by Nick Clegg himself who stated; ‘I really think tuition fees are wrong.  I think it is wrong to saddle young people with 25,000 quid of debt before they’ve even taken a first step in adult life’.

"There's no easy way to say this: we made a pledge, we didn't stick to it - and for that I am sorry," were the words used by Clegg to apologize for his actions in which he not only broke this initial pledge, but also assisted David Cameron and the Conservatives in their tuition fee raise (Clegg was one of the 27 Lib Dems to support the move). The question that remains debated is simple: Is sorry good enough?

The choice of the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party was in itself surprising. Seemingly poles apart in attitudes and morals, many expected the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg to side with the Labour Party.  The initial worry of many Lib Dem voters was that the government they had helped elect would not be representative of their views. Instead of reassuring his voters and maintaining their faith in the Liberal Democrat Party, Nick Clegg seems to have single-handedly ruined any credibility and respect his party had recently achieved; ostracizing his voters and fuelling his critics.

In the May 2010 general election, 40.5% of student voters voted in support of the liberal democrats. “It’s fair to say that the Liberal Democrats were dependent upon votes from university students last time to a significant extent, and what is more, university students chose them over the other parties.” (Professor Paul Whitely, BES co-director, in a statement to FactCheck). Other promises likely to have encouraged voters feeling let down by the two main parties to have voted for the Lib Dems, such as a crackdown on the wealthy from avoid stamp duty by putting their properties into an offshore trust appear to have been forgotten.

With this knowledge it is fair to say that many of those who voted Lib Dem at the 2010 election would not have done so had they not been deceived by their party. Opinion polls back this claim up, with Lib Dem support down from 23% to 8% in the latest YouGov poll since their election. The dissatisfaction this poll shows, not only with Nick Clegg but with the coalition government in general, demonstrates that sorry is simply not and never shall be good enough.

The only thing that will come close to good enough is the knowledge that the duped voters won’t make the same mistake again. As Malcolm Forbes said; elected leaders who forget how they got there won’t the next time.