General election: Nick Clegg to pledge extra £2.5bn for education

Nick Clegg will on Wednesday put £2.5bn of extra education spending at the top of Liberal Democrat demands in a hung parliament The deputy prime minister will send a clear message that his party wants to continue in government.

Despite the toll suffered by the Lib Dems after five years in coalition with the Conservatives, Mr Clegg will stress that his party is not hankering for a more comfortable life on the opposition benches in the next parliament.

The party's manifesto will promise "a world-class education for every child", with the provision of an extra £2.5bn a year by 2020 to pay for more teachers and more one-to-one tuition.

Despite the Liberal Democrat's damaging policy U-turn over university tuition fees, Mr Clegg still believes that education most distinctly reflects his party's belief in opportunity and realising the potential of the individual.

The Lib Dems will commit to protecting education spending per pupil in real terms over the next parliament, providing an extra £2.5bn of funding for those aged two to 19 by 2020 - a greater increase than proposed by either the Conservatives or Labour.

The party instituted a "pupil premium" in the last parliament which diverted school spending to pupils from poor backgrounds. Mr Clegg says he wants to widen the party's approach.

"We won't rest there - we are determined to make sure that every child has a world-class education," the Liberal Democrat leader will say at the manifesto launch in London.

His close ally David Laws, who drafted the document, will say: "This manifesto is a serious document from a party prepared to govern. It sets out a credible and deliverable liberal vision for government that builds on our achievements in coalition."

A Lib Dem plan to raise the income tax threshold to £12,500 in the next parliament - now also embraced by the Conservatives - will be another key demand in any talks in the event of a hung parliament.

Mr Clegg has made it clear that he could work with either the Conservatives or Labour in a hung parliament. He has argued in the past that coalition is preferable to a less formal deal, because it gives the Lib Dems a full say over all government decisions.

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In a deal with Labour, the Lib Dems would insist on balancing the books earlier in the parliament, although the two parties agree on policies such as a mansion tax and on cutting pension tax relief for the wealthy.

Although polls predict that the Lib Dems will lose up to half of the 57 seats they won at the last election, a haul of 30 or so MPs could still make Mr Clegg a potential kingmaker in a hung parliament.

David Cameron is accustomed to working with Mr Clegg, while Ed Miliband would much prefer to strike a deal with the Lib Dems than to have to seek some accommodation with the Scottish National party.

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