TIM Farron has insisted the Liberal Democrats will not prop up a minority government via a confidence-and-supply deal.
The LibDem leader reiterated there will be “no circumstances whatsoever” in which his party will enter into coalition with Labour or the Conservatives after the June General Election.
He also dismissed an informal arrangement to offer his party’s support on budget measures and other key votes to help a minority Tory or Labour administration.
Challenged about the prospect on ITV 1’s Peston On Sunday, Farron replied: “No supply-and-confidence, no coalition, no deal.”
Asked if his party would prop up a minority government, Farron said: “No, because what is very clear at this moment is that we have an official Opposition which has not been behaving like an alternative government but is not even behaving like an opposition.
“It’s neither fish nor fowl on the biggest issue that has faced us for generations.
“What Britain needs in this election is clarity and a contest. Theresa May has called this election because she believes it’ll be a coronation. The Liberal Democrats are determined to make it a contest with a clear alternative position, and I don’t want people thinking a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a proxy for anything else.”
Farron also said the party had raised £1.6 million in the four days following the General Election announcement.
His party had a disastrous result at the 2015 General Election after they went into coalition with the Tories in 2010 and backtracked on a key manifesto pledge not to increase university tuition fees. Nick Clegg, the then LibDem leader, later apologised for the U-turn.
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