UK leaders grilled by public over economic plans

Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg faced questions about their economic plans from a Question Time audience, in what was the last TV event in the run-up to Thursday's general election.

Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, said that he will not cut child benefits or child tax credits, but that it was possible to save more money from the welfare budget.

“It takes a long time to fix the mess that I was left,” Cameron said, in a dig at the previous Labour administration. “We are half way through a building job.”

He insisted that a Tory government will introduce a law within the first 100 days of his government to prohibit a rise in income tax, VAT and national insurance over the next five years, a so-called “tax lock”.

He said that improving the National Health Services is his “life’s work” but that it was only possible with a strong economy yo back it up.

He refused to speculate on the possibility of a hung Parliament, saying he did not want to do a deal in a "darkened room with Nick Clegg". However, he insisted that an in/out referendum on the United Kingdom’s EU membership would be a "red line" in any coalition negotiations.

He said he had not agreed to a head-to-head debate with Miliband because “giving people the chance to answer questions directly is more powerful than a televised debate."

Ed Miliband dismissed Cameron’s claims that the Tories would not cut child credits, and said that it was “absolutely ludicrous” to suggest that the Labour Party had spent too much money while in government.

"There was a global financial crisis, there was a high deficit,” Miliband said. “That deficit has not been cleared. It will be the mission of my government to cut the deficit every year and balance the books."

He vehemently ruled out the possibility of a post-election deal with the Scottish National Party.

"If the price of having a Labour government was a deal or a coalition with the Scottish National Party then it is not going to happen,” he said. "I am not going to start bartering away my manifesto, whatever the outcome of the election.”

He refused to set an immigration target, telling one questioner: "I don't want to stand on this stage in five years time and explain why I have broken my promise."

Nick Clegg was quizzed about the Lib Dems' U-turn on tuition fees and about why his party had not revealed an alleged Conservative proposal to cut child tax credits on Thursday earlier.

He said that the Tories had "a very unfair plan to balance the books, which departs from what we've done in coalition”.

“I think we are entitled to say: 'What are you going to do? Who are you going to hurt?'" Clegg said.

He defended his decision to enter a coalition with the Conservatives in 2010, as it had been the "democratic" thing to do so and a "plucky and brave way to put country before party".

He indicated that he would be willing to form another coalition with the party that got the most seats in next Thursday's general election.

However, he said that he has been "much clearer" on the "red lines" he would insist upon in any coalition negotiations with Labour or the Conservatives, such as a requirement for education expenditure to increase by £5bn by 2020.

He said he would only back an EU referendum if more powers were handed to Brussels.

An instant poll of Question Time viewers conducted by ICM for The Guardian after the debate found that 44% thought Cameron had "done best", against 38% for Miliband and 19% for Clegg.