Cable: I will not join government

Cable: "Ten years ago, that kind of thing could have been possible."

Vince Cable has told the BBC he is not "going off to join a Labour government" and would turn down the chancellor's job if it was offered by Gordon Brown.

The Lib Dem Treasury spokesman said some sort of Labour-Lib Dem alliance may have been "possible" a decade ago but it was not an option now.

It follows speculation about Chancellor Alistair Darling's future amid controversy over his expenses.

Mr Cable has been spoken of by some as a possible replacement for Mr Darling.

His name has cropped up as one of the more unlikely potential replacements for the chancellor, following praise from across the political spectrum for his response to the banking crisis and recession.

But Mr Cable, a former economist who was a member of the Labour Party in the 1970s, told BBC Two's Daily Politics: "I am part of a Lib Dem team, I am not going off to join a Labour government".

He said a Labour/Lib Dem pact had been discussed between former leader Paddy Ashdown and then prime minister Tony Blair prior to the 1997 election but it was not an option now because confidence in the political system has "collapsed".

'Effective team'

The Lib Dems' standing in the opinion polls, ahead of Thursday's elections for the European Parliament and 34 English councils, has varied wildly.

A recent ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph put the Lib Dems ahead of Labour in second place, on 25%.

But a separate poll by Populus for The Times put the Lib Dems on 15% and suggested it could come fourth in the European elections behind UKIP.

The chancellor is under pressure after having to apologise for claiming a service charge on a flat he was no longer living in after moving to his grace-and-favour property in Downing Street.

What we want is to have Liberal Democrats in government not simply to offer up people like Vince as add-ons to a dying Labour government Nick Clegg

There has been widespread speculation that Mr Brown's longtime right-hand man in the treasury, Ed Balls, is poised to succeed Mr Darling who the Lib Dems say should be sacked.

A cabinet reshuffle could happen as early on Friday.

But Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg dismissed talk of Mr Cable being drafted into the government.

Asked whether Mr Cable might be in the running to replace the chancellor should he be axed, Mr Clegg said his party would not help prop up a government which was "running out of road".

"Vince has made his owns views entirely clear," Mr Clegg said, "which is that he is part of the Liberal Democrat team".

"I am delighted that Vince and I work together as, I think, a highly effective team."

"What we want is to have Liberal Democrats in government not simply to offer up people like Vince as add-ons to a dying Labour government. We are not going to do that."