Nick Clegg sets out economic red line

An emergency “stability budget” within the first 50 days of the next parliament will be a Liberal Democrat red line in any post-election deal.

Nick Clegg‘s demand would effectively veto the Tory plan to cut £12bn from the welfare budget to balance the books if the Lib Dems teamed up with the Conservatives again.

If the Lib Dems were in coalition with Labour, the demand would impose a timetable on Ed Miliband and Ed Balls to deal with the deficit.

The move follows Mr Clegg’s decision to start explicitly setting out the terms the Lib Dems would demand in any deal after 7 May.

He has already declared that a commitment to increase the education budget to keep pace with rising prices and the growth in pupil numbers will be a “no ifs, no buts” red line.