"Economic liberal" Nick Clegg makes the case for monopoly

I began to learn my Liberalism in the 1970s - the days when Liberals championed small businesses and employee ownership of larger ones.

Nationalisation does not float my boat, though it may be inevitable when the franchising system for the privatised railways finally collapses. Already most franchises are operated by state-owned organisations - it's just that it's not the British state.

I was always a bit sceptical of the self-proclaimed "economic liberals" who later appeared in the party. They did not talk about increasing competition as much as I would have like and rarely seemed to oppose the interests of big corporations.

This performance by Nick Clegg has done nothing to make me revise my view.