Nick Clegg urged to step down as Liberal Democrat leader

THERE have been fresh calls for Nick Clegg to stand down as leader of the Lib Dems this morning.

Former MP Lembit Opik said Clegg should quit as leader, but stay as Deputy Prime Minister.

“The writing is on the wall here. There is nothing constitutionally to make Clegg have to be leader and Deputy Prime Minister; he needs to split the roles,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“The problem is Nick Clegg: there is a poll today which suggests that 19 per cent of the people like the Lib Dems without Clegg; 12 per cent like Clegg without the Lib Dems.

“My empirical view is that we would have done better with a different leader.

“I don’t dislike Clegg as a person but I think you can actually point at specific mistakes he has made.”