Lib Dem leader uses gloomy new year message to insist actions taken in coalition were 'not easy' but right
Nick Clegg has warned in a new year message that 2012 poses "many great challenges" for everyone in Britain. The deputy prime minister said the UK had been "pulled back from the brink" but the "economic rescue mission" remained the coalition's number one priority. In a video message to Liberal Democrat activists, he insisted the actions being taken as part of a power-sharing government were "not easy" but were right. And, in an attempt to rally the grassroots, he claimed it was the Lib Dems who had ensured the government was helping people get through the tough times.
"We have had to make some very difficult decisions, but they've been the right ones for the long-term good of our country. A country that was at risk of falling prey to the international markets has been pulled back from the brink.
"We only need to look at what is happening in countries on our European doorstep to see what we could have ended up dealing with in 2011.
"But that economic rescue mission is not over yet and there is much more we must do. That's why, thanks to the Liberal Democrats, the government has been helping people get through these difficult times with measures to make life fairer and easier.
"There are no easy years when you are in government, and we have had to show real strength in 2011. The next year will be one that poses many great challenges for everyone in Britain."