Apart from the raft of personal attacks on Clegg in the papers last week, there were the warning bells that Ken Clarke, a Tory of many many years standing, and an experienced politician, sounded about the economy. A hung parliament, he said, would be a disaster for the economy. He quoted acclaimed economist and journalist Hamish McRae.
McRae, an associate editor of The Independent, (which is backing the Lib Dems) wrote in today’s Indy that he was misquoted in the Newsnight interview.
He says that he “had warned that there was a popular perception that this might be bad news for the economy but that actually things might turn out rather differently.”
Unfortunately, the headlines have made their impact now, and of course the public’s understanding of the matter is that the economy will suffer under a coalition.
Reason #10: the Tories will do anything, including lying, to get into power, and specifically, to stop other parties getting into power.