Lib Dem: Main manifesto pledges

Savings would include a 400 pay rise cap for public sector workers, reducing winter fuel payments for pensioners under 65 and cutting child tax credits for high earners.

The party pledges to introduce "the most radical, far-reaching tax reforms in a generation", changing income tax thresholds so that no one pays the tax on the first 10,000 they earn.

This would cost 16.8bn, but would be paid for by closing loopholes and tax breaks which benefit the wealthy, and through "green taxes" to be paid by polluters.

Tax relief on pensions would be paid only at the basic rate, saving 5.4bn, and more money would be raised by taxing capital gains at the same rates as income, changing duties on flights, and introducing a "mansion tax" on homes worth more than 2m.

A 2bn-a-year banking levy would be introduced, to ensure financial institutions pay for the state support they have received, and cash bonuses for bankers would be limited to 2,500.

BUSINESS

Industry would benefit from business rate reform, cuts in unnecessary red tape and an end to the "gold plating" of European Union rules.

Regulations would be assessed before and after they were introduced, using "sunset clauses" to make sure they were regularly reviewed, as well as working towards a principle of "one in, one out" for new rules.

Business rates would be reformed to create a fairer system where rates were based on site values rather than rental values, while relief for small firms would be automatic.

Regional development agencies like Yorkshire Forward would be reformed to focus solely on economic development and allowing "substantial" budget reductions.

Compulsory retirement ages would be scrapped and the minimum wage would be set at the same level for all workers over the age of 16, except for those on apprenticeships.

DEFENCE

The Lib Dems would be "critical supporters" of the war in Afghanistan and would work to bring British troops home by 2015.

The party's manifesto reads: "We will continue to demand a strategy that involves other players in the region.

"We believe that a successful strategy will stabilise Afghanistan enough to allow British troops to come home during the next parliament."

Lower ranks of the Armed Forces would get a pay rise, bringing their earnings in line with the starting salaries of workers in the emergency services.

Troops' family homes would be modernised twice as quickly, to ensure they were "fit for heroes".

The Lib Dems reject as unaffordable the like-for-like replacement of the 100bn Trident nuclear weapons programme, and also rule out buying a new fleet of Eurofighter aircraft for the RAF.

ENVIRONMENT

Road pricing, lower annual rail fare increases and a 140m scheme to replace old polluting buses are key pledges.

The party would cut the major roads budget and use the money to reopen closed rail lines and add extra tracks.

Motorists in rural areas would benefit from a fuel discount scheme which would allow them to pay less for petrol and diesel.

Airport departure taxes would be charged per plane rather than per passenger, and airlines would have to be "honest and upfront about pricing" without adding hidden charges.

The party said it wanted to make the British economy "carbon neutral" by the middle of the century so it did not add at all to global warming.

Homeowners would also be offered an energy efficiency audit of their home and then be eligible for a loan of up to 10,000 to make improvements, which they would pay back through their council tax.

HEALTH

The Department of Health would be halved in size and strategic health authorities would be scrapped if the Lib Dems took power.

Large and "unnecessary quangos" would also go, including Connecting for Health which is overseeing the multi-billion pound NHS IT upgrade.

Another of the party's pledges is to cut the number of Government

targets and give patients more guarantees to treatment.

NHS managers' pay and bonuses would be capped so that none is paid more than the Prime Minister

Patients would be given more power, through elected local health boards, which will take over the role of primary care trust boards in commissioning care for local people.

Over time, the boards will take on responsibility for allocating money and resources "to allow local people to fund local services which need extra money".

LIBERTIES

Councils would be barred from spying on people and ID cards would be scrapped under a Lib Dem crackdown on Britain's "surveillance state".

Innocent people would be removed from the DNA database and unnecessary monitoring of email and internet records halted.

Parents' permission would be required before children could be fingerprinted at school.

"Liberal Democrats believe it is an individual's right to live their lives as they see fit, without discrimination, with personal privacy, and equal rights before the law," the manifesto states.

The Lib Dems pledge to pay for 3,000 more police on the beat and to introduce a compensation fund for victims – funded by prisoners' wages.

Responsibility for asylum would be taken away from the Home Office and given to an independent agency.

Police would be able to hold terror suspects for only 14 days without charge.