On the stumps in Glasgow, he told a crowd of mainly party faithful: “For those of you who come from families which supported Labour for generations – not just a cross on the ballot paper but part of what you and your communities were – I am saying you have been let down and taken for granted.
“It can feel like a betrayal to vote for anybody else. It’s not a betrayal of Labour. Labour have betrayed you. Glasgow does not belong to Labour. Glasgow belongs to you.”
The LibDem leader was addressing the only gathering in the city unconcerned about the Rangers versus Celtic derby as it was more interested in breaking the stranglehold of the Westminster Old Firm, Labour and the Tories.
Mr Clegg had stored up trouble for himself by talking about potential deals with David Cameron, which may play well in parts of England but could jeopardise his prospects in the likes of Glasgow North or Edinburgh North and Leith.
Billed as an old-fashioned Town Hall meeting at Woodside Community Centre in Maryhill, there were around 200 LibDem activists present, reflecting their belief that Mr Clegg’s breakthrough in the TV debates had changed the political battleground and brought seats like Glasgow North into play.
Labour’s Ann McKechin is defending a majority of 3,338, around 12%, though most attention had been on her party’s attempt to wrest back East Dunbartonshire from the LibDems’ Jo Swinson. But since the Clegg surge there have been concerns that Glasgow North has become a key contest.
The LibDem leader said Labour had delivered recession, “destroyed civil liberties on an industrial scale”, invaded Iraq because Bush and Cheney said so, and allowed the greed of bankers to go unchecked.
He noted that a child born in parts of Glasgow would die a decade-and-a-half earlier than one in Kensington, mocking David Cameron’s talk of a “big society” to change that.
Earlier in the day, Mr Clegg offered a personal guarantee to LibDem voters about what he would seek to achieve with any influence he might wield after the election. With opinion polls pointing to a hung parliament, he said he will use all the support he gets on May 6 to “deliver fairness”.
The pledges, set out in newspaper adverts and leaflets to be handed out tomorrow, include using ballots cast for the LibDems to deliver a fairer voting system.
Mr Clegg has stopped short of making electoral reform an requirement for a deal with either of the bigger parties, but in his guarantee to the electorate he said: “We need to clean up politics. I will use your votes to reform Parliament, to deliver a fairer voting system, protect your freedoms and give you the right to sack corrupt MPs.”
The leaflet outlines the four key planks of the party’s manifesto, citing political change, fairer taxes, a shake-up of education and economic reform.
Mr Clegg added: “We need a fairer tax system. I will use your votes to cut taxes for those at the bottom and in the middle and close the loopholes for those at the top.
“We need to support our children. I will use your votes to ensure extra funding for schools, to cut class sizes and give all children a fair chance.”
On the economy, Mr Clegg promised to “split up the banks, get them lending again, invest in green infrastructure and so create jobs”
Although there are signs the surge in popular support for Mr Clegg may have peaked, the LibDem leader insisted: “This election campaign has shown us that millions of people want us to do something different this time; politicians should work together to solve the nation’s biggest problems. That is why, whatever the outcome on Thursday, I believe we should be prepared to work together to fix the terrible state of our public finances and ensure economic stability.”
