Nick Clegg has been quick to dismiss critical stories about him as "smears." They seem pretty well sourced to me. Furthermore in this evening's debate he was the one engaging in smears about the Conservative MEPs entering into an alliance with those he called "nutters" - "homophobes", "anti semites", etc. These charges have been refuted thoroughly enough already.
But what of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe? This is the group which Nick Clegg's Lib Dem MEPs sit in. It's leader Guy Verhofstadt MEP wants to abolish the nation state.
The Lib Dems fellow affiliates include the Feminist Initiative from Sweden, who had an MEP until last year. This Party's propose to abolish marriage and create "gender-neutral" names.
Then there is the Latvian affiliate to the group the Lib Dem Euro MPs sit in. It is the LPP/LC a merger of two parties Latvian First Party and Latvian Way. It really is homophobic. One of its leaders equated gays to paedophiles. The Party regards homosexuals as degenerates.
In last week's debate Clegg came up with the staggeringly hypocritical and dishonest claim that the Lib Dems were clean on MPs expenses. But I think his comments this evening on European Parliament groupings manage to trump that.
