Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has firmly rejected an appeal from his Tory counterpart David Cameron for their two parties to work together.
Spurning calls from Mr Cameron for the Lib Dems to join forces with the Conservatives in a new "national movement", Mr Clegg insisted the two parties were "totally different".
The Lib Dem leader refused to discuss whether he would enter coalition talks with either Labour or the Tories in the event of a hung Parliament after the next general election.
But he made plain that he saw little similarity of approach between the Lib Dems and the Tories.
"We are totally different to the Conservatives," he told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.
"We stand for the progressive hopes that have been betrayed in the last 10 years and I believe we can replace Labour over time."
Mr Clegg has stepped up his criticism of the Tories this weekend at the start of the Lib Dems' annual conference in Bournemouth, describing Mr Cameron as "the con man of British politics".
But the Conservatives have sought to stress their similarities with the Lib Dems, who could become kingmakers if none of the parties hold an outright majority after the next election.
In an article for The Observer, Mr Cameron suggested the Lib Dems were creating dividing lines that did not exist between the two parties.
In areas like civil liberties, education and climate change, Mr Cameron said, there was "barely a cigarette paper" between the two parties.
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