Clegg pledges tax cuts for low and middle-earners

The Liberal Democrats have promised to cut taxes for low and middle-income earners through a £20bn reduction in government spending.

Leader Nick Clegg said the party would offer "tax cuts for those who need it most" through a combination of Whitehall savings and tax increases for the wealthy.

Speaking ahead of the launch of a document setting out the party's "vision and values", Clegg said it was time for the government to tighten its belt.

"The bottom line is that I don't accept the line from Gordon Brown and David Cameron that the current government spending is set in stone forever," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Asked if his party's MPs and members would support a tax-cutting agenda, he said: "It is impeccably liberal to call for a fairer tax system - the cuts must come from the bottom up.

"The government has made an enormous, enormous increase in spending to £600bn - it is time for the government to tighten its belt."

He said the party would identify where the savings would be found - for example by cutting the number of MPs by one-third, ending some defence programmes and abolishing government departments such as the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

And Clegg said he wanted to close "loopholes" in capital gains tax and pension tax relief which he says favour the better off, while raising green taxes.

"We are quite unapologetic about saying that people who have got a lot of money will pay more," he said.