The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has promised "radical reform" of the banking, tax and political system if his party wins power at the general election.

Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Clegg said that the forthcoming election "is our opportunity not to repeat the same old patterns of the past".

And he defended his party's pledge to deliver £15bn of public expenditure savings over and above the £40bn outlined by the government, as a mixture of "responsibility and radicalism".

Interviewed by Today presenter James Naughtie, Mr Clegg said he would not agree to a like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear deterrent, which he called "a Cold War nuclear missile system".

And he said that "taking promises from Labour or Conservatives on political reform... is like accepting a consumer service guarantee from Del Boy".