Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has called for a judgment on Britain's commitment to the war in Afghanistan "pretty quickly" after the general election. The mission ought to be over by the end of the next parliament, which could run to 2015, he told activists at the party's spring conference in Birmingham. Afghanistan was the primary concern of delegates putting questions to Mr Clegg from the floor, with loud cheers for a suggestion by one that withdrawing troops could cut the deficit by £4 billion a year. The leader said that the Lib Dems had backed the war in Afghanistan for the "right reasons" and that he had "broken the taboo" last summer by asking for a change of strategy. Asked how long it would take before it was apparent whether the US-led mission had succeeded, he said the public could not be expected to support an open-ended campaign. "How long do we give before we come to a judgment? I think it's a matter of months, a year or so. Not a matter of weeks, nor a matter of years and years. Not before the general election, but it's a judgment we should come to pretty quickly after the general election." During the hour-long Q&A session, Mr Clegg was asked about subjects ranging from primary education to support for people with learning difficulties who wanted to become candidates. He was pulled up by one delegate who said that he had recently appeared to express enthusiasm for Thatcherism. He insisted that, as a student in the 1980s, he had opposed "pretty much everything (Margaret Thatcher) did". But he praised the fact that the Tories in the 1980s stood up to the "vested interest" of the trade unions, comparing them with the bankers now. It was vital that one group was not given "preferential treatment over the wider interests of society", he said. Mr Clegg was cheered when he gave a strong defence of the European Union and attacked the UK Independence Party, saying: "The weather doesn't stop at the cliffs of Dover." | 
