article: Nick Clegg tonight vowed to block the Tories imposing deep welfare cuts as the price of any future Coalition deal. The Deputy Prime Minister said he would not allow the Lib Dems to prop David Cameron up in power if he insisted on pushing ahead with his plan to slash £12billion from the benefits bill. In an interview on the BBC, Mr Clegg also suggested he would veto a new deal unless the Tories agreed new taxes on the rich. But the Deputy Prime Minister defended his record in government with Mr Cameron. Asked if he was proud of his record in power, Mr Clegg said: 'Hell yes.' Scroll down for video . The Deputy Prime Minister said he would not allow the Lib Dems to prop up David Cameron in power if he insisted on pushing ahead with his plan to slash £12billion from the benefits bill . The Lib Dem leader, meanwhile, accused the Tories of ‘lashing out’ at Labour because they knew they could not win the election. Mr Clegg's remarks come after the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon launched an extraordinary attack on Ed Miliband last week. Mr Fallon said the Labour leader had stabbed his brother in the back to win the leadership and was now 'willing to stab the United Kingdom in the back to become prime minister' by giving up the Trident missile system to secure the support of the SNP. Mr Clegg’s insistence that he will not go into Coalition with the Tories if they insist on such deep welfare cuts increases the possibility that the Lib Dems could strike a deal with Labour after the election. However, the Deputy Prime Minister said he would also veto a deal with Mr Miliband if Labour did not set out in more detail how they would slash the deficit. He said: ‘I wouldn’t accept £12billion of welfare cuts. In exactly the same way that I could never countenance recommending to the Liberal Democrats entering into a coalition with the Labour Party that isn’t serious about balancing the books rather than the specious stuff they’ve come up with today. 'Equally I would not recommend to the Lib Dems that we go into coalition with the Conservatives if they insist on a plan which is a marked departure from what we’ve done in this coalition. ‘They’re asking for £12billion over two years. We’ve made £20billion over five. They want to ask the poorest to make additional sacrifices whilst not asking the richest to pay an additional penny through the tax system to balance the books.’ In an interview on the BBC tonight, Mr Clegg said the price of another Coalition would be new taxes on the rich and a scaling back of the Prime Minister’s planned welfare cuts . Asked by host Evan Davis if he felt ‘betrayed’ by the Prime Minister at any stage since 2010, he pointed to the AV referendum. He said: ‘It was shoddy it was unnecessary I didn’t think they needed to win the argument by being quite so personal. I wish the referendum had been fought on its merits. ‘What I have learnt about the Conservatives – and you can see it in this election campaign – when they think they’re about to lose their grip on something that they like, usually power, they can lash out, they’re doing it in this election campaign because they realise they’re not going to win it.’ But Mr Clegg said the Coalition had been ‘worth’ all the pain. He said: ‘Yes, of course it has and any Liberal Democrat will tell you that… we took the decision as a democratic party. And we decided that notwithstanding the impact on our short term political popularity it was the right thing for the country. ‘And a time when people are so cynical about politics, and so fed up with politicians isn’t it a good thing that a party, a plucky brave party put country before party and I have an old fashioned belief that if you do the right thing, that there are plenty of fair minded folk out there who will recognise that…was every decision a decision I would relish? 'Of course not. But is the country better now than it was when we found it on an economic precipice in 2010, you bet.'
highlights: Deputy PM said he would block a new Coalition deal over welfare cuts .
  He pledged to force David Cameron to impose new taxes on the wealthy .
  The Liberal Democrats have called for £3bn of new welfare savings .
  Coalition has slashed £20bn off the benefits bill in five years since 2010 .
  Mr Clegg said Tories now 'lashing out' because they know they are losing .
  Asked if he was proud of his record in power, he said: 'Hell yes'
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