Nick Clegg was slapped down by Al Murray on social media yesterday after name-dropping the comedian.

Mr Clegg referenced Murray’s popular pub landlord act at the Lib Dem’s Glasgow conference in a clearly scripted effort to recoup some of his credibility with voters.

Recounting Mr Murray’s speech at a pro-union rally in Trafalgar Square last month, he said the pub landlord had struck a chord by noting there was something “wonderfully vague about being British.”

And Mr Clegg told activists: “After all, he said, that’s why we call ourselves Brit-ish.”

But the joke was on him when Murray took to social media to distance himself from the Deputy PM’s bottom-of-the-barrel gag.

“Attention world’s media: This Clegg business is nothing to do with me,” Murray posted on Twitter before Mr Clegg had even finished speaking.