article: Nick Clegg tonight set out the first of his 'red lines' for a second coalition, warning he will block any cut in education spending. The Liberal Democrats admitted today that their best hope is to end up with 30-something MPs after May 7, compared with the 57 elected in 2010. A senior party source said their best chance of holding the balance of power after the General Election was to finish 'in the 30s' if they are able to retain a number of closely-fought seats. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, making play dough at Tops Day Nursery, Corfe Mullen in Dorset, said he would demand education spending be protected from cuts as the price of propping up another coalition . Mr Clegg said the first of what he dubbed his 'Premier League policies' is a £5billion commitment to protect the entire education budget in real terms. But Mr Clegg is still determined to form a coalition with either the Conservatives or Labour and today vowed to set out which of the policies announced in his manifesto would be non-negotiable. The first of what he dubbed his 'Premier League policies', which the party would insist upon as a condition of propping up a government, is a £5billion commitment to protect the entire education budget in real terms. It would mean raising spending on education every year from 2018 onwards and at all stages 'from cradle to college', which goes further than the Tories or Labour have promised. Mr Clegg said: 'I can confirm a Liberal Democrat red line – a pre-condition for Government – is increasing spending on education. 'The Liberal Democrats will not allow our children and grandchildren to pay the price of this generation's mistakes. We believe above all else in spreading opportunity, in tearing down the barriers that stop people from reaching their potential. Nothing is more crucial to that than education.' The Lib Dem leader - who claimed just last week that he would not set out 'red lines' - said people felt 'confused' about the outcome of the election and he wanted to be 'clear and certain' about his party's intentions. The pledge would mean raising spending on education every year from 2018 onwards and at all stages 'from cradle to college', which goes further than the Tories or Labour have promised . The Liberal Democrats admitted today that their best hope is to end up with 30-something MPs after May 7, compared with the 57 elected in 2010 . Inviting criticism that the rest of his policies are all negotiable, he said he would fight for everything in the manifesto but that 'here are some Premier League policies and others which don't assume quite the same significance'. 'I will confirm the non-negotiables, the deal breakers, the things without which we would not enter into a coalition government and I'll do so fairly rapidly over the next few days', he said. Mr Clegg's policy is £5billion more expensive that what the Conservatives had planned – which is a freeze on schools spending for those aged 5 to 16 and cuts in other areas. It is £2.5bn more than Labour planned to spend on protecting the entire education budget but not accounting for an expected 460,000 rise in pupil numbers over the next five years. 'The next Government must increase spending on nurseries, schools and colleges. That means education spending must rise with both prices and pupil numbers', he said. 'Without investment in education, there can be no deal with the Liberal Democrats.' The pledge would take education funding from £49bn a year currently to more than £55 by the end of the next Parliament, to be funded by rising economic growth once the deficit is cleared. A promise on education spending is intended to win over floating voters in key seats where the Lib Dems are facing the Tories, to capitalise on concerns about cuts to public services. A senior lib dem involved in party strategy said the campaign's focus was increasingly on 10 to 15 marginal seats. Mr Clegg would not comment on numbers of seats and simply said his party would do better than dire opinion polls suggest.
highlights: Clegg names the first of his 'Premier League policies' as price of support .
  Would mean raising spending on education every year from 2018 onwards .
  Lib Dems say it covers every stage of education 'from cradle to college'
  But insiders admit the party could lose as many as 20 seats on May 7 .
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