It has been revealed that Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, whose party is campaigning hard for next week’s general election in the UK, and Iceland’s Minister of Social Affairs, Arni Pall Arnason, are old school friends and still keep in regular contact.
The pair met while studying in Bruges in Belgium where they were studying higher education courses at the European School in 1991 and 1992. Arnason and Clegg last communicated by email just last week, the Icelandic minister told Frettabladid. “I was in law and he was in politics. It’s a tiny little school and we got to know each other,” Arnason said. “He’s a good lad and a very principled politician.”
Nick Clegg and Arni Pall Arnason are good friends but they are not political allies, because Iceland’s ruling Social Democrats are partnered with the UK’s ruling Labour party. “But the Liberal Party is special and for socially progressive people in Britain, it is the ultimate choice,” says Arnason. “One feels that the party’s stance on the Iraq war really changed its image, making it become a real choice for lots of people.”
Arnason said he has often discussed Icesave and other Icelandic affairs with Nick Clegg since the banking crash. He added though that his and Clegg’s friendship will likely have very little impact in Anglo-Icelandic relations if the Liberal Democrats are part of the next British government, as opinion polls indicate is fairly likely.
“I think we should always avoid the idea that personal links are the key issue in politics,” said Arnason, and added that it had been a hard lesson for the Icelandic authorities to learn a few years ago that the country’s relationship with the USA cannot be based primarily on friendship between individual politicians in Iceland and America. “All politicians in the end have to nurture links with their voters and look out for the interests of their own nation.”
