Clowning around

So Nick Clegg is over his outrage at the EU summit and back laughing with his Eurosceptic mates. Clegg became the incredible sulk of British politics last week by snubbing David Cameron's commons statement on the new EU treaty. The Prime Minister cheered on by Tory MPs was pressed by Labour on the absence of Clegg and joked, "I'm not responsible for his whereabouts". The following day Nick Clegg claimed he'd stayed away from Parliament as he did not want to be a 'distraction' on the Government front bench.

As leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick clegg is expected to be far more pro-European than his Conservative coalition colleagues. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show a few days later he said, 'I'm bitterly dissapointed by the outcome' no doubt after the howls of protest from his own party. It was widely reported that Clegg was told of the decision reached by Cameron only after the summit. Cameron speaking in the House of Commons after Clegg's BBC interview claimed that, 'Clegg had endorsed the strategy that he now appears to regret.

The Tories will be quite happy to let Nick Clegg or any of the leading Lib Dem politicians sulk and whinge in the media, as long as it's their policies that get pushed through. David Cameron has certainly made himself more popular with his 'Bulldog spirit' to the far right of his party, who will now push for more moves away from Europe and add even more embarrassment to Clegg's Lib Dems.

There still seems some mystery surounding Clegg's whereabouts during Cameron's commons statement, I reckon he was probably entertaining children at a party somewhere in the capital, after all a 'clown' is what he's allowed the Conservatives to turn him into. It doesn't seem that long ago that Cameron famously referred to Clegg as a joke during the election campaign http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8678196.stm

The only thing he's missing now is the red nose and a big pair of daft shoes.