Viewing cable 10LONDON86, AMBASSADOR’S MEETING WITH LIBERAL DEMOCRAT LEADER

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:

• The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
• The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
• The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #10LONDON86.

Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
10LONDON86	2010-01-15 14:02	2010-11-30 23:11	CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN	Embassy London

VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLO #0086/01 0151430
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151430Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4635
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 000086 

SIPDIS 
NOFORN 

EUR/WE FOR MARBURG 

EO 12958 DECL: 01/13/2020 
TAGS MARR, MOPS, PGOV, PREL, UK, AF, PK 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR’S MEETING WITH LIBERAL DEMOCRAT LEADER 
NICK CLEGG

REF: 09 LONDON 2569

Classified By: Ambassador Louis Susman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

¶1. (SBU) Summary. Ambassador Susman paid an introductory call on Liberal

Democratic Party leader Nick Clegg on January 12. Clegg may find himself

cast into the role of kingmaker if neither of the two main parties wins an

outright parliamentary majority in the upcoming general elections, --

though Clegg refused to be pinned down as to what his party would do in

the event of a hung parliament. Clegg stressed the tremendous amount

of “goodwill” his party has for the Obama Administration, raising no

major objections to current U.S. policy objectives and expressing his

party’s support for the new strategy in Afghanistan. End Summary.

Overly Optimistic
----------------- 

¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Susman paid an introductory call on Liberal Democratic

Party leader Nick Clegg on January 12. Clegg may find himself cast into 

the role of kingmaker if neither the Labour nor Conservative parties win 

an outright parliamentary majority. As he has done recently with the press,

Clegg refused to be pinned down as to which party the Lib Dems would support

in the event of a hung parliament, insisting instead that his strategy was

to “focus on the long term goals.” Despite the fact that current polls 

indicate that Lib Dems are unlikely to even hold onto the 63 parliamentary

seats they currently have, Clegg appeared optimistic that his party would

make progress towards his goal of doubling their number of seats.

Afghanistan
----------- 

¶3. (SBU) Clegg noted that while the Lib Dems have been very vocal in their

opposition to coalition efforts in Iraq, his party has always supported 

military action in Afghanistan. Clegg perceived that “a real page had been

turned,” with Obama’s announcement of our new strategy. Clegg particularly

welcomed the Obama administration’s increased emphasis on civilian engagement.

(Note: Clegg has been extremely critical of HMG’s prosecution of the war

effort. Last summer, for example, he wrote in an op-ed that “recent events

have led me to question, for the first time, whether we’re going about 

things in the right way...Our young men and women’s lives are being thrown

away because our politicians won’t get their act together.” Reftel 

outlines senior Lib Dem statesman Paddy Ashdown’s views on challenges in

Afghanistan and his belief that Lib Dems were “in for the long haul.”)

Ambassador Susman expressed U.S. appreciation for the important 

contribution made by UK forces, confirmed our long-term commitment, and

stressed the importance of reconciliation in our future efforts.

Relations with the U.S.
----------------------- 

¶4. (SBU) Clegg stressed that one “could not overestimate” the “amount of

goodwill” his party has for the Obama Administration. He quickly accepted

Ambassador Susman’s offer of a briefing on the 2003 extradition treaty. 

(We believe the Lib Dems misunderstand the facts.) Clegg further noted 

that of the three major political parties in the UK, the Lib Dems are,

and have always been, the biggest supporters of a strong EU. He stressed

his belief that the UK had an important role to play in advocating mutual

objectives in Brussels. In response to Clegg’s question on key priorities 

the USG would be looking for from any new British government, Ambassador 

Susman noted the need for support on the full range of mutually-shared

foreign policy objectives including, among others: Afghanistan, Pakistan,

MEPP, Iran, China and climate change.

Comment
------- 

¶5. (C) Clegg came across as very smooth, a bit like Tory Leader David

Cameron. While critical of the previous administration, Clegg expressed

considerable admiration for President Obama. He downplayed his party’s 

likely leverage in the event of a hung parliament or minority government,

claiming it was “not as much leverage as people think.” Nevertheless, 

should the elections bring that result, Clegg’s choices will be critical.

Much will depend, however, on whether he can keep his often fractious 

parliamentarians in line.
Visit London’s Classified Website: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/

Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom
SUSMAN