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Britain could be hit by "serious social strife" if Labour or the Tories win the election and introduce severe spending cuts, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg says.He said there could be "Greek-style unrest", referring to angry protests prompted by austerity measures there.
Mr Clegg told the Observer he was not campaigning for a hung parliament, but said it would be preferable to the Tories winning on a minority of votes.
However, he said politicians working together can be "a good thing".
Highlighting that Labour won the 2005 election with 22% of the electorate voting for them, Mr Clegg said: "Imagine the Conservatives go home and get an absolute majority, on 25% of the eligible vote.
"They then turn around in the next week or two and say we're going to chuck up VAT to 20%, we're going to start cutting teachers, cutting police and the wage bill in the public sector.
"I think if you're not careful in that situation... you'd get Greek-style unrest. And so, my warning to people who think the old politics still works, is be careful what you wish for."
'Slash and burn'
Earlier this year Greece's socialist government introduced cuts to bring the country's debt and deficit under control. Thousands took to the streets over several days of strikes in protest at the measures.
As a potential place of backlash, Mr Clegg used the example of Sheffield - where his constituency is - which has no Conservative MPs or councillors, and a high proportion of public-sector workers.
"Suddenly these people will be told by a government that has no legitimacy [in the area] in their eyes that this government is going to slash and burn, having promised them something else," he told the Observer.
Some opinion polls published in Sunday newspapers suggested a hung parliament or a slight Tory majority might be the outcome of the 6 May election.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.