Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson tonight says she is sorry for voting in benefit cuts that hit some of the poorest in society.
Interrogated by BBC interviewer Andrew Neil, she apologised three times for helping usher in the bedroom tax, which penalised some people with spare rooms; the benefits cap, which limits the amount any household can receive in benefits; and health policies that allowed 'privatisation' of the NHS.
But Ms Swinson insisted she was forced to vote for the policies as a Minister in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government, which ran the UK from 2010 to 2015.
The Liberal Democrat leader was taking part in the Andrew Neil Interviews on BBC One. Asked about the bedroom tax, she admitted voting for it nine times, adding: "I’m sorry about that, and it was one of the things that we did get wrong."
Mr Neil went on to ask about the benefits and NHS reforms, prompting Ms Swinson to insist that the Liberal Democrats succeeded in getting more money for schools and introducing same sex marriage.
She continued: "But of course, of course there were things where we didn’t win those battles, and I’m sorry about that. It was not a Liberal Democrat government, it was a coalition government."
And pressed again on the bedroom tax, she apologised a third time, saying: "Yes, I am sorry that I did that. It was not the right policy. And we should have stopped it."
Ms Swinson's interview follows Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's TV grilling on the show. Conservative leader Boris Johnson has not yet agreed to a date for an interview with Andrew Neil.
Some polls suggest the Lib Dems have lost support during this election, and the party's difficulties have been blamed partly on their policy of revoking Brexit without holding a second referendum. Lib Dems say that this only applies if they win a majority of seats, and in other circumstances they will support a second Brexit vote.
She told Mr Neil: "We’ve always said that we would want to do so through democratic means. Whether that was through an election or whether it’s through a people’s vote on the specific Brexit deal, Liberal Democrats have led that campaign, we came out immediately after the 2016 referendum and said we thought the specific Brexit deal should be put to the public for a final say and will continue to say."
Ms Swinson said that if there is a hung Parliament after the December 12 General Election then the Liberal Democrats will not help make either Jeremy Corbyn or Boris Johnson Prime Minister. However, she would vote for legislation to hold a second referendum, she said.
"Liberal Democrat votes aren’t going to put Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10, but will I work with Labour MPs? In fact have I been working with Labour MPs and Conservative MPs and SNP and Plaid Cymru and the Green MPs, independent MPs to try to stop Brexit? Yes."
She went on to say: "Liberal Democrats will work to stop Brexit, we will support legislation that puts in place a people’s vote and we will work across parties."
