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== Early life ==

== Early life ==

Nick Clegg was born in Buckinghamshire to Nicholas P. Clegg CBE and Eulalia Hermance van den Wall Bake. His father is half-English, half-Russian, and his mother is Dutch. He speaks English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish. His wife, Miriam González Durántez, is Roman Catholic. The couple has three sons, and they have agreed to raise them in the Catholic faith.<ref name=scotsman />

Nick Clegg was born in Buckinghamshire to Nicholas P. Clegg CBE and Eulalia Hermance van den Wall Bake. His father is half-English, half-Russian, and his mother is Dutch. He speaks English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish. His Spanish wife, Miriam González Durántez, is Roman Catholic. The couple has three sons, and they have agreed to raise them in the Catholic faith.<ref name=scotsman />

Aged sixteen, Clegg and some friends were involved in destroying a collection of rare [[cactus|cacti]] whilst drunk.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1193693/Id-drunk-I-irresponsible-Criminal-Nick-Clegg-regrets.html Daily Mail - Nick Clegg on his regrets]</ref>

Aged sixteen, Clegg and some friends were involved in destroying a collection of rare [[cactus|cacti]] whilst drunk.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1193693/Id-drunk-I-irresponsible-Criminal-Nick-Clegg-regrets.html Daily Mail - Nick Clegg on his regrets]</ref>

== Politics ==

== Politics ==

Clegg describes himself as [[liberal#Liberalism in Europe today|liberal]] and is in favour of handing over further powers from British sovereignty to the [[European Union]]. Each of the five bodies of the EU currently has some sort of legislative or judiciary power over the UK (with these ranging from simple group discussions in the Council of Ministers to fully independent legislation from the European Parliament.) He is in favour of significantly higher taxes for the rich, including a mansion tax - a fixed annual levy on all houses worth more than two million pounds, and of raising the income tax threshold to £10,000.

Clegg describes himself as [[liberal#Liberalism in Europe today|liberal]] and is in favour of handing over further powers of British sovereignty to the [[European Union]]. Each of the five bodies of the EU currently has some sort of legislative or judiciary power over the UK (with these ranging from simple group discussions in the Council of Ministers to fully independent legislation from the European Parliament.) He is in favour of significantly higher taxes for the rich, including a mansion tax - a fixed annual levy on all houses worth more than two million pounds, and of raising the income tax threshold to £10,000.

The policies of Clegg and his Party differ significantly from that of the two major UK parties, but in very different ways. The main points of difference with the Conservatives are over tax and monetary policy, with Clegg being definitely to the left of the Conservatives, but probably a little to the right of Labour (this is hard to say as Lib Dem tax policies are more leftist than Labour's, yet Labour's Keynsian approach to ending the recession is far to the left of Clegg, whose policies in this area are more Conservative.) However, the differences with Labour are mostly social, with the Liberal Democrats being significantly more in favour of small-government and decentralisation than even the Conservatives, who have (since Labour reversed many of its positions in the 90s) been the less authoritarian of the two major parties. In this area Clegg, like Cameron of the Conservatives, favours less central administration of schools and hospitals, and more power to local communities. Because of this, it is untrue to claim that Clegg's views are a "more extreme" version of either Labour or the Conservatives, but they cannot be placed in the middle either. The complex nature of their stance makes such simple comparisons impossible. On a few other policy issues, such as nuclear weapons, Clegg is noticeably distant from either major party (Clegg favours disarmament.)

The policies of Clegg and his Party differ significantly from that of the two major UK parties, but in very different ways. The main points of difference with the Conservatives are over tax and monetary policy, with Clegg being definitely to the left of the Conservatives, but probably a little to the right of Labour (this is hard to say as Lib Dem tax policies are more leftist than Labour's, yet Labour's Keynsian approach to ending the recession is far to the left of Clegg, whose policies in this area are more Conservative.) However, the differences with Labour are mostly social, with the Liberal Democrats being significantly more in favour of small-government and decentralisation than even the Conservatives, who have (since Labour reversed many of its positions in the 90s) been the less authoritarian of the two major parties. In this area Clegg, like Cameron of the Conservatives, favours less central administration of schools and hospitals, and more power to local communities. Because of this, it is untrue to claim that Clegg's views are a "more extreme" version of either Labour or the Conservatives, but they cannot be placed in the middle either. The complex nature of their stance makes such simple comparisons impossible. On a few other policy issues, such as nuclear weapons, Clegg is noticeably distant from either major party (Clegg favours disarmament.)