Nick Clegg to rule out coalition government

Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt have a story on the Guardian website this evening saying that the Liberal Democrats are planning to rule out forming a formal coalition with either of the other parties if they hold the balance of power after the general election.

Instead they will allow either party to pass a Queen's speech if it makes concessions on the following points:

• Investing extra funds in education through a pupil premium for disadvantaged children.
• Tax reform, taking 4 million out of tax and raising taxes on the rich by requiring capital gains and income to be taxed at the same rate.
• Rebalancing of the economy to put less emphasis on centralised banking and more on a new greener economy.
• Political reforms, including changes to the voting system and a democratically elected Lords, that go further than proposed by Labour.

In any case, whether or not a formal coalition with either party is possible depends upon an electoral outcome that is outside our control. (The Lib Dems could poll well and not hold the balance or poll badly and hold it.)

This approach has some hope of making us look as though we are not too personally ambitious. And it should also give more prominence to our central policy proposals.