Clegg's last minute plea to Brown revealed

London: Nick Clegg begged Gordon Brown to persevere with talks about a Lib-Lab coalition just two hours before David Cameron was confirmed as Prime Minister, it was revealed on Saturday night.

The Liberal Democrat leader spoke to Brown four times on Tuesday, pleading with him to keep alive the chance of their two parties joining forces to destroy the Tories forever. But Brown refused, suspecting Clegg was using him in a cynical ploy to force yet more concessions from the Conservatives. He told him he had already decided to see the Queen to resign.

"I can't go on any longer, I'm going to the Palace."

A resigned Clegg replied: "If that's your decision ..."

Brown said: "It is." He called wife Sarah and sons John and Fraser to his office, hugged his Downing Street team and walked out of No 10 with his family for the last time. The Mail on Sunday has pieced together details of the dramatic talks between Brown and Clegg in the final hours of the former prime minister's tenure.

Panic

News that Clegg had gone behind Cameron's back to open talks with Brown caused panic at Tory HQ. Until this point, Cameron thought a deal with Clegg was in the bag. He was so spooked he immediately promised Clegg a referendum on proportional representation, a concession he had previously refused to make. Meanwhile, Brown was encouraged by reports of a revolt by Left-wing Lib Dem MPs appalled by the notion of having to embrace Right-wing Tories. He met Clegg at the Commons on Tuesday morning in a final attempt to outmanoeuvre Cameron.

"Policies are not the issue between us we are agreed on most issues," Brown told Clegg. "I am sure we could form a Progressive Alliance between us. I genuinely believe it could work." Clegg agreed. His concern was whether they had enough MPs between them to make it work.

"The question is whether an alliance between us is sustainable, whether it is deliverable on your part," he told Brown. Brown then made one final sacrifice: "If it increases the possibility of forming a Progressive Alliance I am prepared to stand aside as Labour leader."

Clegg had never demanded Brown's head directly, but he didn't need to. Brown knew it was his view. Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown, who loathed the thought of supporting a Cameron government, told Brown it was a price he must pay. And Brown was told by Peter Mandelson that he must offer to resign to have any hope of clinching a deal with the Lib Dems. Between the calls from Clegg, fellow Liberal Democrat Vince Cable also phoned Brown and confessed to unease about working with the Tories.

"Emotionally, I am much closer to Labour," Cable, a former Labour councillor, told him. At 3pm, when the two leaders spoke on the phone, Brown was beginning to wonder if Clegg meant business. "I am still keen to reach an agreement with you but I need to know your intentions," Brown said. But Clegg kept prevaricating. "I am not sure I can tell you... but I will call you back later this afternoon after I have spoken to my advisers," he said.

Brown: "I need to know if you are going to commit to working with us to create a Progressive Alliance or if you are going to look elsewhere. We are running out of time."