Mat Bowles

Re: Clegg. Mostly sensible, but a few points:

"The old left/right divide has faded away. "
This actually plays into the hands of the people he's criticising. Far better (and truer) to say something like "there is a right-wing consensus in mainstream politics that denies voters the real choice they once had". Of course, that wouldn't fit with the positioning as a 'centrist' party, but I don't like that either.

"where individual voters can choose to have a small public donation of, say, £3 given to the political party of their choice at election time."
What would be the point of this? Individual voters can already give £3 to any political party, any time they want...

"In my view, that statement should not, as the Government proposes, make rights contingent on duties. It should make power contingent on accountability."
Thank God someone's saying this, and I mourn the fact that it even *needs* saying.

"That must be reversed, so that the bulk of local spending is raised locally"
BAD idea. Poor areas can't afford as much as rich areas, so this would perpetuate and increase inequality.