Nick Clegg denies plan to 'soak the middle class'

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said that "belt tightening" has to continue but newspaper reports of 'soaking the middle-class' are "not on the pulse of Liberal Democrat policies".

Ahead of his party's annual conference, Mr Clegg has recently unveiled plans to allow people receiving large sums of money on retirement to use them to help underwrite their children's mortgages.

The Liberal Democrats are holding their annual conference in Brighton, with the leadership keen to promote a sense of discipline amid poor opinion poll ratings.