Nick Clegg says rightwing 'Blukip' alliance could hold power after election

Nick Clegg has warned that a rightwing alliance of Ukip, the Democratic Unionists and the Conservatives could hold power after the election unless people vote tactically for the Liberal Democrats.

Clegg warned that British values of “decency, tolerance and generosity” would be abandoned if Ukip and Northern Ireland’s DUP propped up a Tory minority government after 7 May - a scenario the Lib Dems have called “Blukip”.

In a speech on Thursday, the deputy prime minister repeated the argument central to the Lib Dem campaign that his party would be a moderating force in a coalition with either of the two main parties, providing a heart to a Conservative-led administration and a brain to a Labour-led one.

Clegg gave the speech at Cheadle College in Greater Manchester, in a marginal seat currently held by the Lib Dems, which is on a list of 20 seats the party says are key to keeping “Blukip” out.

The party is calling for people to vote tactically in its favour in the 20 seats, of which 15 are held by the Lib Dems and five by the Conservatives.

“There is a very real danger that Nigel Farage and his friends could hold David Cameron to ransom,” said Clegg.

“It is a rightwing alliance that brings together people who don’t believe in climate change; who reject gay rights; who want the death penalty back; and people who want to scrap human rights legislation and privatise our schools and hospitals.”

“Imagine what Britain could become if the prime minister had to bargain with [Ukip leader] Nigel Farage and his friends for votes,” Clegg warned. “Our public services cut to the bone. Our communities divided. Our shared British values of decency, tolerance and generosity cast aside.”

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The Lib Dems unveiled a poster showing Farage walking into No 10 alongside David Cameron, echoing Tory election posters that warn of the threat of a Labour-led government propped up by the SNP.

Audience members were also handed packs of Blukip playing cards, featuring controversial quotes from politicians on the right of the Conservative party and from the DUP and Ukip.

Quotes on the cards include Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg saying that the Lords deserved the finest champagne and DUP Northern Ireland assembly member Jonathan Bell saying abortion has “destroyed more viable human life” than Adolf Hitler.

The Liberal Democrats have also launched a spoof website at blukip.org, where the fictional alliance describes itself as a “patriotic, proud and common-sense coalition” and promises to reinstate the death penalty.

Later on Thursday, leaders of opposition parties will take part in a debate on the BBC, an event that Clegg says he was barred from attending.

A senior party strategist said: “Today’s debate will really be between Ed Miliband and Nicola Sturgeon … we’ve seen a lot about the threat of a possible leftwing alliance, but what we won’t see on screens tonight is the people who want to form a rightwing alliance.”

On Wednesday at the launch of the Lib Dems’ manifesto, Clegg said the question facing voters on 7 May was not so much whether Cameron or Miliband would be walking into Number 10 but who would be walking in with them.

Asked whether a call for people to vote tactically was a key element of its campaign, a senior Lib Dem strategist said: “This is how the Lib Dems have won seats for decades. Get into second place and then squeeze the third party.”

At a press conference following his speech on Thursday, Clegg was asked whether the threat of Blukip meant people should vote Labour in Ukip/Labour facing seats.

“I want Liberal Democrats to vote Liberal Democrat, of course I do. I’m the leader of the Liberal Democrats, I’m not going to advocate anything else.”

He added: “You also vote about what you think is in line with your values and what’s right for the country at large. That is partly about the offers, the manifestos the parties publish – which all the parties have done this week – but it’s also about what threats there are.

“For people to make a balanced judgment you need to know both what the opportunities are that are being offered by a party, but also what the threats are.”

Clegg ruled out doing any deal with Ukip, saying he did not want to be part of “any arrangement where we have to dance to the tune of that man, Nigel Farage”.

The Conservatives haven’t ruled out going into coalition with Ukip, saying instead that they are aiming for a majority.

Donation data released by the electoral commission on Thursday shows that, in the first week of the short campaign, all donations to Ukip (totalling £35,416) came from ex-Tory donors. In total 45% of donations ever made to Ukip (£5.2m) have come from former Tory donors.