Lib Dem votes are not 'for sale'

9.17.13am GMT Tue 5th Jan 2010

The Liberal Democrats are not for sale.

In an article for the Times, Nick Clegg has warned his opponents against seeking to cosy up to him in the hope of exerting influence after the election.

Nick Clegg writes "Much of what we have heard so far is unsurprising: absurd pledges on spending, vitriolic attacks on cuts. But one development is new: both the old parties now claim to be almost identical to the Liberal Democrats.

"David Cameron and Gordon Brown are ostentatiously flirting with Liberal Democrat voters, clumsily trying to woo them - and by implication me and my fellow Liberal Democrat MPs.

"This year's general election is likely to be the most open and unpredictable in a generation. So you have a right to know where we stand. I can promise voters wondering whether to put an 'X' against the Liberal Democrats that there are no backroom deals or under-the-counter understandings with either of the other two parties.

"On so many issues in recent years, Liberal Democrat instincts have been in tune with the British public: on Iraq, civil liberties, political reform, the environment, fair taxes, the excesses of the City of London, the rights of Gurkha veterans."

"We are, and have shown ourselves to be, very different from the other two parties. My message to Mr Brown and Mr Cameron is simple: the Liberal Democrats are up for real change. We are not up for sale."