Fury as Nick Clegg brands independence supporters “extremists”

On a visit to Scotland last week, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg branded independence supporters “extremists” and claimed the Liberal Democrats held the “centre ground” of the debate on Scotland’s future.

During the visit to Dunfermline, Mr Clegg said that “the extremists are those who either think that we need to yank Scotland out of the United Kingdom tomorrow, or those who say there should be no further change at all.”

Mr Clegg went on to describe the Liberal Democrats as “very much situated in the centre ground of Scottish public opinion” despite the party losing twelve seats and failing to hold onto any mainland constituencies at the last Scottish Elections.

Isobel Lindsay from the Scottish Independence Convention told The Journal: "Nick Clegg is so out of touch with Scotland that he makes the case for independence. The movement for Scottish self-government has been characterised by its commitment to non-violent democratic action and has a strong social democratic ethos. The real extremists are those in the British 'Establishment' who are dismantling the welfare state in England, who have dragged us into a decade of war and who have based 160 nuclear bombs in Scotland."

A Scottish National Party spokeswoman added: “Nick Clegg is spending too much time with the Tories. His comments are the same old and tired Tory scaremongering and he may want to rethink his language. Whilst Clegg clings to an outdated Union and fails to offer the full financial powers the Scottish people want, the SNP will continue to lead the ambitions of the people for Scotland to have the same powers as any other nation.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrats similarly caused controversy last year when a cartoon was posted on their official Facebook and Twitter accounts suggesting an independent Scotland would be a dictatorship where the death penalty would be issued for “crimes against the state”.

SNP MSP Chic Brodie asked "What happened to the respect agenda?”, and said that Mr Clegg should apologise for his comments.