"This really is your show".
That is how the Deputy Prime Minister began his exclusive question and answer session with Pirate FM listeners at Treviglas Community College, Newquay on Thursday 15th September 2011.
First up, he gave a pledge to increase funding for childcare saying “I know, because I’m a father”.
It is after statistics showed bills are forcing some parents out of a job.
Nick Clegg has also been asked about VAT and the Duchy's controversial incinerator.
Chair of Cornwall Waste Forum in St Dennis Ken Rickard said, "A lot of people are not educated or aware of the dangers of incineration. Asbestos, eventually that was proven to be a killer. The same thing will happen with incineration. The incinerator emissions kill people. There's no doubt about that".
The Deputy Prime Minister said he understood how strongly people feel about the site at St Dennis, but the decision will not be re-opened.
Also on the list of tough questions, council cuts. Mr Clegg admitted that some councils are ‘outrageously taking easy decisions’ and made another promise, that there would be an announcement on the southwest's sky high water bills soon.
“This is something that has really, really bothered people, quite rightly, for a very, very long time. It’s quite complex. I don’t want to over promise. I can’t pretend there’s a magic wand. But, we are certainly not going to repeat the mistakes of the last government who did nothing at all. They just sat on their hands”.
Booze-fuelled bother in Newquay was raised. Mr Clegg agreed locals do not want it to become a "theatre" of bad behaviour and that there were “bigger issues over how we support coastal communities”.
Then he moved onto those controversial NHS reforms and was asked what how the government was going to protect patient safety.
He insisted that the shake up would give more say to the people "who know patients best", their GPs, and that they would give patients more say.
But patients’ rep Rose Trengove was not so sure: “There’s no accountability at the moment and yet they say that it’s meant to be patient led and I can’t see anything in the bill that’s going to make that any different. In fact I think it weakens it. I just think it’s taking patients more out of the loop not putting them into it and along with a lot of health campaigners, I’m really very worried”
On tuition fees, Nick Clegg admitted: "Every day I wonder if we could have done things differently".
He said no student would have to pay fees up front and the age at which repayments begin is being raised, saying: "No-one should pay not a penny, not a pound of fees, when they're a student" and that they will get more help with living costs.
Listeners threw up the question of why the Lib Dems teamed up with the Conservatives in the coalition government, to which Mr Clegg said: “If we hadn't, there would have been terrible economic consequences.”
He said he would never apologise for trying to put national interest before party interest and that he was proud of what they were trying to do.
On the economy, there was an admission that we are still "skating on thin ice" and getting the banks lending again was the top priority. There was also a promise that there would be "no slippage" on "uplifting" projects like broadband, renewable energy, building, motorway and rail improvements etc.
Cornwall’s housing needs came under the spotlight. The deputy talked of the "profound injustice’"for young people not able to get on the property ladder and said more homes need to be built for young families. But he added that the green belt is not being demolished and hinted that we are going to see some ‘quite radical" ideas over the next few weeks.
Finally he was tackled on jobs and benefits. It is after unemployment in the Duchy took a big jump, up by two thousand. That is being partly blamed on the number of youngsters out of work. The Deputy PM admitted it needs tackling: "There is a real problem with young people being locked out of labour market”.
He said we have to do more to help and "make sure bridge between education and employment is better".
The deputy also said it should always pay to work and it cannot be right that people on benefits do better than those with a job.
Photo opportunity of the day came when Nick Clegg was asked to support a Cornish breast cancer campaign, signing the 'Bosom Buddies' pink taxi.
