It's not a good time to be a Lib-Dem at the moment. The humiliating bi-election defeat, and the embarrassing reversal on tuition fees, have all served to weaken the party's position in the polls. As if this wasn't bad enough, further humiliation was lumped on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, yesterday, when he attempted (and failed) to start a Mexican wave during a speech by opposition leader Ed Milliband.
MP's use a number of methods to liven up particularly dull sittings at the House of Commons. Popular activities include: Chinese Whispers, Coalition Bullshit Bingo and spot the Policy Wonk. However, The deputy Prime Minister's attempt to curry favour with his fellow MPs back-fired spectacularly and left him looking red faced- Shadow Leader Ed Milliband was half-way through a speech on the Fiscal Deficit, when Mr Clegg suddenly stood up, threw his hands in the air and shouted "Hey Everybody -Mexican Wave!"
Unfortunately for Mr Clegg, his timing could not have been worse. Instead of a gigantic human ripple effect, all he got was a few dry coughs and about 10 seconds of embarrassed silence. After the tumble-weeds had made their way across the auditorium, MP's had checked their watches and straightened their ties, things continued much as they had before the outburst. Mr Clegg sat down and proceeded to scrutinise some documents with great intensity. Mr Milliband finished his speech.
This is one in a long list of embarrassing publicity stunts by the Deputy PM, but it appears that no amount of trying will make people want to be friends with Nicky "No Mates" Clegg.
