(UK Deputy PM) Nick Clegg: I feel 'lobotomized' by Government

Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | 7:48AM BST 04 Jul 2012 | Hannah Furness

[Olog-hai]

The Deputy Prime Minister said he felt he was “sort of gradually lobotomized” by the work of government, and the “sheer neurosis and weight of everyday activity”.

Speaking at a reception at liberal think tank Center Forum, he argued it was time to “think big” by coming up with new policies.

Admitting getting into Government meant “you stop thinking a bit; you stop looking into the middle horizon,” Clegg said he had discovered the pitfalls of the role “like so many generations of politicians before me”.

He said: “One of the things that happens when you go into government is you are sort of gradually lobotomized by the sheer neurosis and weight of everyday government activity.”

BBC journalist Andrew Neil reported that his words caused senior Liberal Democrat Lord David Steel to have “rolled his eyes”.

His frank admission inspired Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith to agree: “Nick Clegg feels lobotomized in Govt. MPs are lobotomized in Parliament.”

He later expanded: “An MP's job descrip wd read simply: 'hold Govt to acct on behalf of constituents.' It rarely happens because Govt holds key to promotion.” (sic)

John Spellar, Labour MP for Warley, told the Daily Mail: “A lobotomy is supposed to reduce feelings of inadequacy. It clearly hasn’t worked in Nick Clegg’s case. He is still as inadequate and out of his depth as he has always been.”

Gerry Sutcliffe, MP for Bradford South, added: “The country has clearly known for a long time. It is good that he has finally admitted it.” …

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Here’s a dedication to Nick Clegg.

[Vanders9]

The liberal democrats have been in opposition for so long they have inculcated a total protest mentality. I'ts a great buzz sticking it to "the man". It's a sweet trip. Very attractive, if you are a middle class intellectual who has never known want and has seen one side (only) of a lot of what you can characterise as injustice.

However, the liberal democrats are now in office. They are the government, or at least part of it. They ARE the "man", and instead of standing on the sidelines jeering, they actually now have to come up with solutions, which invariably mean looking at alternatives (something that liberals of all shades are not good at). The party of spoilt children has to do grown up stuff, and that's nowhere near as much fun.

The result in inevitable. Liberal democrat party membership has plummeted, as in it has halved. Their leader, Mr Clegg, is hereby confessing is this article that his head is about to explode from the strain. The party is just incapable of governing.