Vince Cable: It'd be difficult to work with Tories or Labour

Working with either the Conservatives or Labour would be "difficult" for the Liberal Democrats, Business Secretary Vince Cable has said.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show the Lib Dems wanted to "work with other parties in the national interest" in a post-election government.

He also said the public wanted "moderation and stability".

Planned Tory cuts were "potentially horrendous" and Labour had not said how it would reduce the deficit, he added.

Mr Cable said Prime Minister David Cameron would need the Lib Dems for "stability" and "competence" because otherwise his options for support were UKIP and 30 to 40 of his own Tory backbenchers "who hate his guts".

He added that the Lib Dems had been "competent on economics and making the numbers add up" and had combined that with "fairness and social justice".

He said he had no personal preference over whether his party governed with the Conservatives or Labour, should there be another hung parliament.

"We have to respect what the public want... and we have to be able to work with other parties," he said.