Nick Clegg was cornered by Gillian Duffy, the woman who made Gordon Brown famous during his campaign in Rochdale, and the deputy prime minister struggled to deal with the retiree’s blunt questions.
During a visit to Rochdale, Clegg was harassed by Duffy, who wanted to know why he had refused to form a coalition with Labor and how he justified the government’s spending cuts.
Duffy turned out to be a formidable opponent who refused to submit to political speeches.
When Clegg told her that spending cuts were needed and that the government was making “tough decisions” to get Britain out of the economic crisis, Duffy replied:
“That’s the same speech you gave an hour ago.”
“Can you honestly tell me now, look me in the eye, and say that you are pretty pleased with all of these guidelines that went wrong for your party?” Asked Duffy.
Trying to avoid the question, Clegg told her, “Whoever was in power now, whether it was Labor… any government would have difficult decisions to make.
But Duffy persisted and said, “I’ll ask you.”
To which Clegg replied, “Absolutely. I will tell you why it is very important that we get this right. If you fail to pay the debts we owe, anything will happen, Gillian, for us young people here in Rochdale to take over the bill for our generation’s debts. “
Labor voter Gillian Duffy confronted Mr Brown about immigration when he was in Rochdale on a campaign visit last May.
In a classic PR cockup, the Prime Minister at the time was heard telling an adviser that it was a “disaster” and that Ms. Duffy was “just some kind of bigoted woman”.
Brown was forced to pay Duffy a groveling apology and even visited her home.
Go Gillian Duffy!
