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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/lib-dems-will-maintain-identity.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Nick Clegg said he did not think voters to become 'best mates' with David Cameron" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-lib-dems-will-maintain-identity.jpg" alt="Nick Clegg said he did not think voters to become 'best mates' with David Cameron"/></a></p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has indicated his determination that the Liberal Democrats will maintain a separate identity from their Conservative coalition partners.</p>
<p>Amid ongoing speculation over whether the parties will agree an electoral pact at the next general election, Mr Clegg said he did not believe voters wanted him to become &#8220;best mates&#8221; with Prime Minister David Cameron.</p>
<p>But at the start of the most testing week for his Liberal Democrats, who face a divisive Commons vote on tuition fees, he insisted he had no regrets over going into government with Mr Cameron&#8217;s Tories.</p>
<p>His comments came as shadow chancellor Alan Johnson said that Labour should reach out to progressives within the Liberal Democrats, with a view to possible co-operation after future elections. Mr Johnson indicated that he had the backing of Labour leader Ed Miliband in calling on the party to &#8220;nurture links&#8221; with Greens and Lib Dems, rather than turn its back on Mr Clegg&#8217;s party for working with Tories.</p>
<p>Mr Clegg told the Independent on Sunday: &#8220;I don&#8217;t think what the country wants is for us to become best mates.&#8221; But asked if he had any regrets about his decision to go into coalition, he replied: &#8220;No. None at all. I&#8217;m absolutely convinced that almost any other course of action would have been a disaster for the country.</p>
<p>&#8220;If there&#8217;s one thing I&#8217;m not going to apologise for as the leader of the Liberal Democrats in Government, after 60 or 70 years of being out of government, it&#8217;s that you just cannot avoid but deal with the world the way it is.&#8221;</p>
<p>In an interview with the Fabian Review, Mr Johnson said he expected future elections to produce results where &#8220;you cannot guarantee a big majority government&#8221;. And he made clear he believes Labour cannot afford to burn its bridges with the Lib Dems in these circumstances.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am absolutely open, and so is Ed, to forging a centre-left coalition in the future,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;d like to win elections outright, but we&#8217;ve got a lot in common with many Lib Dems and others on the left, like the Greens, and we should nurture those links.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mr Johnson, who is one of Labour&#8217;s biggest enthusiasts for voting reform, was decidedly lukewarm about the referendum on the Alternative Vote for Westminster elections taking place on May 5 next year. A supporter of the more proportional AV-plus system, Mr Johnson said Mr Clegg had been &#8220;remarkably weak&#8221; in not ensuring a proportional option was on the ballot paper for the referendum.</p>
<p>Asked if he would be disappointed if the referendum is lost, he responded: &#8220;I won&#8217;t be heartbroken. If it goes through, I&#8217;ll support AV, but my heart won&#8217;t be in it in the same way as if it was the proper thing.&#8221;</p>
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