Is Nick Clegg 7 years old? Mansion tax threat suggests answer is yes
Clegg said to be considering tit-for-tat threat if Tories and Labour join forces to get 'snooper's charter'

NICK CLEGG has been accused of acting like a child by threatening to join Labour in backing a mansion tax on the rich if David Cameron uses Labour help in the Commons to override Lib Dem objections to the "snooper's charter".
Clegg has floated the idea in the past of joining with Labour to force through the tax on owners of homes worth more than £2 million. He knows that taxing the rich would lift Lib Dem poll ratings ahead of the general election. But it would destroy the coalition at a stroke.
When the Opposition sprang a trap on the Lib Dems in March in the Commons, Clegg ordered Liberal Democrats to vote against Labour in order to preserve the coalition.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Now, according to The Times, senior Tories fear Clegg could yet do the dirty on them and join Labour in pushing through the mansion tax IF the Tories and Labour join forces to revive the Communications Data Bill, allowing MI5 the power to monitor internet traffic between suspected terrorists.
Though MI5 have said the intelligence would not have saved the life of Drummer Lee Rigby last week by alleged British jihadists, the Woolwich killing has led to a powerful cross-party alliance of former ministers – Tory and Labour - for Cameron to revive the bill.
The Prime Minister dropped the bill from the Queen's Speech because he knew Clegg would oppose it. (It's not only Lib Dems who regard it as a snooper's charter incidentally; some right-wing Tory backbenchers feel the same way.)
Home Secretary Theresa May made it clear on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that she wants the bill and she has a powerful cross-party alliance of former security ministers behind her. They include Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the intelligence committee which is overseeing a review into any security lapses that may have failed to stop the killing; former Tory leader and Home Secretary Lord (Michael) Howard; and ex-Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson who said on the same Marr show that it should be a "resignation issue" for May if the Cabinet – that is Clegg - blocked it.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Cameron won't be back from his Ibiza sojourn until the weekend, but he's asked Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood to try to defuse the row with Clegg by seeing if the intelligence and security services can be given access to details of email traffic under existing laws, without the need for a bill.
But the over-riding impression from this ugly episode is that the coalition is creaking to the point of collapse. Daily Telegraph blogger Dan Hodges tweeted today: "Lib Dems saying if Tories push through anti-terror legislation they'll force though mansion tax in revenge. Is Nick Clegg 7 years old?"
Many senior Tories - already furious with Cameron for appeasing Clegg on the Gay Marriage Bill (back in the Commons next week) - think the answer is yes.
-
The Liberal Democrats: on the march?
Talking Point After winning their highest number of seats in 2024, can the Lib Dems marry ‘stunts’ with a ‘more focused electoral strategy’?
-
Can the Lib Dems be a party of government again?
Today's Big Question Leader Ed Davey is urged to drop the stunts and present a serious plan for the country
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?
Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Is the G7 still relevant?
Talking Point Donald Trump's early departure cast a shadow over this week's meeting of the world's major democracies
-
Angela Rayner: Labour's next leader?
Today's Big Question A leaked memo has sparked speculation that the deputy PM is positioning herself as the left-of-centre alternative to Keir Starmer
-
Is Starmer's plan to send migrants overseas Rwanda 2.0?
Today's Big Question Failed asylum seekers could be removed to Balkan nations under new government plans
-
Is the UK's two-party system finally over?
Today's Big Question 'Unprecedented fragmentation puts voters on a collision course with the electoral system'
-
Has Starmer put Britain back on the world stage?
Talking Point UK takes leading role in Europe on Ukraine and Starmer praised as credible 'bridge' with the US under Trump