JO Swinson has apologised for welfare cuts the Liberal Democrats backed when they were in power with the Conservatives, admitting they had gone too far.
In an interview with BBC One's Andrew Neil, the party leader, who was a minister in the Lib-Con Coalition, said: "Clearly, too much was cut. Clearly, not enough was raised from taxation.
"Some cuts were necessary but the shape of those cuts and certainly the balance between cuts and tax rises, I don't think was the right balance."
Asked if she would apologise for supporting the so-called bedroom tax during the Coalition, Ms Swinson, who is fighting to retain the East Dunbartonshire seat, said: "Yes, I am sorry that I did that. It was not the right policy and we should have stopped it.
"And our manifesto makes clear that that should be scrapped."
The Scot added: "I am sorry about that. It was one of the things that we did get wrong. We did spend five years in a coalition government where clearly we didn't win every battle against the Conservatives.
"We fought many battles and we did win many battles for more money for schools, for more money for the poorest pupils.
"There are many things that I am very proud of and where we made a difference, but of course there are things where we didn't win those battles, and I am sorry about that."
Ms Swinson insisted that neither Jeremy Corbyn nor Boris Johnson was fit to be Prime Minister but the Lib Dems would support a push for a so-called "People's Vote" on EU membership in a hung Parliament.
Asked if the Lib Dems would prop up a Corbyn-led government for six months in order to allow time for a new Brexit referendum, the party leader replied: Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson, neither of them are fit to be Prime Minister.
"I will vote for legislation to pass a People's Vote, of course I will, and I would have done that under the previous Conservative government, just as I would do it under any other government.
"I am not going to put Jeremy Corbyn into No 10 but if a government of any colour puts down a Bill in Parliament to have a People's Vote, then we will support having a People's Vote to put a specific Brexit deal to the people with the option of remaining in the EU."
Ms Swinson added: "Will I vote for legislation on a People's Vote? Yes.
"If Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn don't win a majority at this election, then there is no guarantee that they are still going to be the ones that are leading their parties a week afterwards.
"So, Liberal Democrats will work to stop Brexit. We will support legislation that puts in place a People's Vote and we will work across parties."
The Lib Dem leader said that no-one knew Mr Corbyn's stance on Brexit, stating: "None of us know what Mr Corbyn is really is proposing because he is offering everybody a free pony, frankly."
Questioned on why voters seemed to like her less the more they got to know her, Ms Swinson said: "I don't know the answer to that question. I have seen some polls that say something slightly differently to that.
“At the end of the day, I am going to stand for what I believe in. And there will be people who dislike that."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel