Clegg aiming for election majority

LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg yesterday said he was aiming to “secure the majority of support” from the British electorate and had not entered into talks with either the Tories or Labour.

He again refused to rule out working with Gordon Brown in the event of a hung parliament but repeated his assertion it would be impossible for the Labour leader to remain in No 10 if his party had slumped to third in the vote share.

Mr Clegg spent the day campaigning on health issues, including a well-received speech to the Royal College of Nursing’s congress, but could not avoid questions on which way he will turn in the event of no party gaining a decisive victory on May 6.

Asked on the Radio 5 Live breakfast programme if he would work with Mr Brown, he said: “It is not for me to decide, it is for people to decide how the government should be formed.

“I am not the kingmaker, David Cameron is not the kingmaker, Gordon Brown is not the kingmaker.

“There are 45 million people who have still got to choose and I am not going to short-circuit that. It is simply not for any politician to do that.”

Put to him that he had indicated it would be a “problem” to work with Mr Brown, he said: “No, no, no... What I have said is something very specific, which is that I think many people, not me, it is not about politicians, it is about many people who are thinking about how they are going to vote, would find it a bit peculiar that under our system, under our conventions, someone who is in No 10 can carry on being in No 10 even if they have come last in terms of the votes cast.”

After his keynote speech in Bournemouth, Mr Clegg told reporters the Lib Dems had not begun talks with either of their main rivals despite opinion polls pointing to a hung parliament.

He said: “I’ve certainly not had talks with anybody, I’ve been too busy campaigning around the country.”

There had been “no authorised talks whatsoever” by anyone in his party, he said.

“A vote for the Liberal Democrats isn’t a vote for anybody else. A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for fairness and real change,” he said.

“What we are aiming for is to secure the majority of support of the British people.

“All the three parties now are roughly neck and neck so I’m not going to waste my time constantly speculating on what might happen when I think there is still a long way to go in the general election campaign.”

Mr Clegg was rewarded with a standing ovation by the RCN congress after a speech in which he promised to give nurses a greater say in the way the NHS is run and in identifying cuts. He said: “You live in the real world. You know, we all know, that money is now tight. The deficit now stands at £167 billion (€192.7bn).

“And we all know that finding bucketloads more money for health at a time when budgets are tight could only come at the cost of other equally essential areas like schools and police.

“So you know we have to find ways to help the NHS do more with the money it already has.”

Meanwhile, British business leaders have serious doubts about the Conservatives’ choice of finance- minister-in-waiting, and fear an inconclusive election will hit the economy, a Reuters poll showed.

Support for Brown among the chief executives and finance directors surveyed was almost non-existent, while backing for Labour finance minister Alistair Darling was little better.

Brown said it was too early to speculate on who Labour would ally with if there was no clear result. “We’re going for a majority,” he told a BBC radio phone-in.

Asked if it would be hard for him to work with the Lib Dems after what Clegg said about him, Brown said: “Lots of people say lots of things, they’re entitled to do that, but I don’t get into this sort of personality politics.”

The Conservatives have tried to stem the Lib Dem surge by arguing that a vote for them would leave Brown, whose star has waned since he became prime minister in 2007, in power.