The last we heard of Nick Clegg was his post-Lords reform tantrum over Boundary Reviews. He used his very disappointed face then and it seems he is still smarting even after a few weeks in Spain. From the fearless pulpit of the Guardian he’s squared up to the Prime Minister, demanding that there be more taxes on the rich. You would never have guessed conference season was just around the corner…

Clegg has told the Guardian that he plans to embark “on a strategy in which he will take no prisoners as he moves to shore up his party’s support in the runup to the 2015 general election.” Apparently “anyone who stands in his way… can expect a withering rebuke.” The political equivalent of being slapped with a wet fish.

It seems he forgot to tell his party that he was up to something though:

Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson in Lords @susankramer – didn't know Clegg plan for wealth tax & says "will be interesting to hear the details"

— Alex Belardinelli (@abelardinelli) August 29, 2012

So what’s it really all about? Clegg candidly points out:

“We took a calculated collective gamble as a party when we went into coalition and clearly it has turned out to be a lot harder and a lot tougher than any of us could have anticipated at the time. We have lost a significant amount of support in the opinion polls, I have lost a significant amount of support.”

At least he’s honest enough to point out that these potential tax rises are not in the national interest, but about saving his own skin.