LONDON (Reuters) - Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg set out his policy requirements for backing either the Labour party or the Conservatives if neither wins an outright majority in the looming election.
In an interview published in the Independent Thursday, Clegg said his party would strike "no deals" before the election, widely expected to be held on May 6.
"We are not here to play games with other parties," Clegg told the Independent.
"We are here to secure a big mandate for the big changes we want in Britain. Once we know the lie of the land after the election, we have to work out the best way to do that."
Clegg, whose party holds its spring conference in Birmingham this weekend, set out four concessions he would want in return for supporting another party: political reform, more school spending for deprived children, less reliance on financial services and tax reform.
Clegg will spell out 15 billion pounds of savings in the run-up to the March 24 budget, the Independent reported. Almost a third of the savings would be spent on creating jobs and improving schools, with the remaining 10 billion "a down payment" to reduce a record budget deficit. The Conservatives are looking to end 13 years of Labour rule, but recent opinion polls have indicated there may be a hung parliament, where no party has an overall majority.
The latest poll in the Sun newspaper gave the Conservatives a 5-point lead, which means Labour would still have the biggest number of seats in parliament.
This would leave the Liberal Democrats, who now have 63 seats in the 646-member parliament, as kingmakers.
Clegg tried to reassure financial markets, worried by the prospect of a hung parliament, and accused the Conservatives -- who have said they would cut the budget deficit faster and harder than Labour -- of using scare tactics to win votes.
"They are basically saying, 'Vote Conservative or the markets in the City of London will tear the house down'. It is a very thuggish threat, using the markets for short-term political benefit," he said.
Clegg said the Liberal Democrats would act as a "guarantor of fiscal responsibility."
"We are the guarantee that it (the deficit) will be taken seriously because we are candid and open about the enormity of the problem," he said.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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