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Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has indicated he might find it difficult to do a deal with Gordon Brown in the event of a hung Parliament.In a Daily Telegraph interview, he says Mr Brown is "a desperate politician".
It comes as Mr Brown says that he wants a "new politics", with the two parties creating an informal alliance to keep the Conservatives out of power.
David Cameron has previously warned against a Lib-Lab coalition, saying the Tories are the only choice for change.
The election campaign continues later with the SDLP's manifesto launch.
Mr Brown's interview with the Independent sees him calling for a "progressive alliance", appealing to Lib Dem supporters to think about backing his party.
"If you want a referendum on new politics, you've got to consider voting Labour," he said.
"We are the only party committed to a referendum on it. You won't get one with the Tories."
He said the Conservatives offered merely "a change of personnel and a return to the old politics", while Labour was "serious" about revamping the UK's electoral system.
'Clutching at straws'
However Mr Clegg, whose party is committed to the system of proportional representation, said the prime minister had "systematically blocked, and personally blocked, political reform".
"I think he is a desperate politician and I just do not believe him," the Lib Dem leader told the Daily Telegraph.
He also stressed there were many differences between his party's policies and those of Labour. "Do I think Labour delivered fairness? No. Do I think the Labour Party, in its heart, has a faith in civil liberties? No. They are clutching at straws."
Meanwhile, as the government continues to work on plans to bring thousands of stranded British tourists home following the reopening of UK airports on Tuesday evening, the Tories called for "a full inquiry into this fiasco".
"Labour's misjudgement and mismanagement have badly let down the travelling public," said shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers.
But Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said: "The government has taken every measure we can, and at every stage. We have done everything we reasonably can to protect the travelling public."
'Hung parliament territory'
A series of opinion polls published in Wednesday's newspapers gave a confusing picture of the state of the parties.
One put the Lib Dems in the lead, while two others showed the Conservatives were ahead.
The YouGov survey for the Sun suggested the Lib Dems were up three percentage points from Tuesday on 34%.
The Tories were down two to 31% and Labour fell one to 26%. A total of 1,595 people were interviewed on Monday and Tuesday.
The Tories have their biggest lead since March in a ComRes poll for the Independent and ITV News, in which 1,012 adults were questioned on Sunday and Monday.
They have climbed three points on Tuesday to 35%, with Labour and the Lib Dems both falling two points to 26%.
And the weekly Populus survey for the Times, conducted among 1,501 people on Monday and Tuesday, put the Tories in first place on 32%.
This is down four points on a week ago, while the Lib Dems have gained 10 points to 31% and Labour fall five to 28%.
Using the BBC Online election seat calculator, the Populus and YouGov polls suggest Labour would be the largest single party in a hung parliament, while the ComRes survey shows the Conservatives as the largest party - but short of a majority in the Commons.
"We still remain firmly in the hung parliament territory that voter reaction to the first debate placed us in," said BBC polling expert David Cowling, referring to last Thursday's televised head-to-head between Mr Brown, Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron.
As well as the SDLP's manifesto launch in Belfast later, the former MP Martin Bell will introduce 40 independent candidates, endorsed by the Independent Network, who are standing around the UK.
They include a bus driver, lawyers, businessmen and a first-time voter.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.